The pound continued to fall against the dollar as Bank of England (BOE) Governor Mark Carney deflected questions about how long he will stay at the BOE. Carney said it will be "an entirely personal decision."
Bloomberg reports that Carney said "no one should read anything" into it in regards to government policy. He adds that the role of governor requires "total devotion."
The pound dropped against the dollar during Carney's testimony. CNBC reports that the pound already fell ahead of Carney's appearance at the House of Lords economics committee.
The pound's drop was followed by the extended loss of European stocks Tuesday afternoon. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.35 percent in the red, while the French CAC 40 and Germany's DAX fell 0.26 and 0.04 percent respectively. The concern also comes around the Brexit news.
The U.K. FTSE 100, meanwhile, closed 0.45 percent higher, boosted by the pounds drop. The Dow Jones industrial average continued to trade down 0.23 percent as the S&P 500 index was in the red by 0.28 percent.
The lead-up to Carney's choice has been colored by the recent criticism from members of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party. Carney's term runs through 2021 but he said he'd serve until 2018 when he took the job three years ago.
Carney said that the recent move in the sterling appears to be the "market's perception of what the potential relationship will be between the United Kingdom and Europe. It's a bit early to be making that judgment."
May said on October 5 that there were some "bad side effects" of the loose monetary policy. Carney agreed with the spirit of the prime minister's comments, saying it wasn't an attack on the BOE's policies.
He said "one would expect to see the emergence of a risk premium around U.K. assets" if there were changes to the bank's independence.
