Sterling skidded against the dollar on Monday, as the U.S. currency reasserted its safe haven status and Britain's economic outlook was knocked further by a credit ratings downgrade.

Last week the pound rose nearly 7% against the greenback as measures to inject liquidity into markets by the U.S. Federal Reserve and a $2 trillion stimulus bill to offset the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic cooled dollar demand.

Ratings agency Fitch cut Britain's sovereign debt rating on Friday, saying debt levels would jump as it ramped up spending to offset a near shutdown of the economy.

By 16:00 GMT, the pound was down 0.4% at $1.2386, off its highest levels since March 13.

Source : Reuters