Pound Falls As U.K. Gov't Wins Brexit Challenge In Northern Ireland

The U.K. government prevailed in legal challenges related to the U.K.'s pending exit from the European Union, media reports said Friday, sending the pound to an intraday low of $1.2125. The Northern Ireland High Court ruled the government is able to launch Brexit talks with the EU without holding a parliamentary vote. Politicians from Sinn F�in, the Alliance Party, the Green Party and the Social Democratic and Labour Party, according to the BBC, had raised a pair of legal challenges for their stance that the U.K. government, led by Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, could not trigger Article 50 without a parliamentary vote. Northern Ireland in June voted 56% to 44% in favor of remaining in the EU.