British pound knocked by 'two minutes of chaos'

LONDON — The British pound swung wildly Friday, briefly plunging 6.1% in early Asian trading to a 31-year low against the dollar before recovering. During London hours, it fell 2%.

Pound briefly falls over 6% to new 31-year low

The British pound briefly fell to a new 31-year low Friday plunging 6.1% in early Asian trading to a 31-year low against the dollar before recovering. During London hours, it fell 2%.

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The tumble in Asia appears to be related to a "fat finger" error by a trader or a rogue automated trading algorithm. However, comments by French President Francois Hollande calling for the European Union to take a firm stance with the United Kingdom in negotiations over its decision to leave the bloc may also be partly to blame.

The pound fell as low as $1.1841, its lowest level since March 1985, in "two minutes of chaos" during Asia hours, according to Bloomberg. The currency then recovered but is still down sharply. It was trading at around $1.2361 on Thursday in London.

On Tuesday, the pound also plummeted after Prime Minister Theresa May said she would start the process to leave the EU by the end of March 2017. The pound has dropped around 17% since reaching a 2016 high of $1.50 on June 3, the day of the U.K.'s vote on the EU.

"There’s no sign that we’ve reached the bottom yet," said Trevor Charsley, a currency analyst at online trading platform AFEX, in emailed comments.