Most economists believe UK will stay in single market, Reuters poll shows

Most economists believed it was more likely that Britain would stay in the single market following the surprise Election result, despite which they still expected Sterling to fall in value, according to new polls from Reuters.

Of the 49 economists canvassed by the newswire, 33 said the odds of a 'hard-Brexit' had "receded somewhat" and another three said they had "fallen significantly". On the other hand, five of those believed they had in fact "increased somewhat".

In a separate poll, 26 of 50 analysts told Reuters the pound was likely to fall further from the two-month lows it hit on 9 June, while 15 forecast no change and the remainder expected it to strengthen some.

Following the referendum, the pound fell by as much as 23% against the US dollar, hitting 1.15 in October - a 31-year low.

Before the last elections, May had vowed to walk away from negotiations with the EU without a deal if necessary.

At 1342 BST the pound was 0.57% higher against the greenback to 1.2728.