LONDON—Sterling crashed to a record low early on Monday as traders rushed for the exits on mounting concern that the new government’s economic plan will stretch Britain’s finances to the limit.
The British pound’s searing drop helped lift the safe-haven U.S. dollar to a new two-decade peak against a basket of major currencies, while the euro hit a fresh two-decade low against the greenback.
In Japan, authorities reiterated that they stood ready to respond to speculative currency moves, after they intervened last week to bolster the yen for the first time since 1998.
But it was sterling’s slide that rippled across markets, down as much as 4.9 percent to an all-time low of $1.0327….