Reuters reported that six further junior ministers, Kemi Badenoch, Neil O'Brien, Alex Burghart, Lee Rowley, Julia Lopez and Mims Davies, resigned from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government.

Meanwhile, several news outlets report that the 1922 Committee could change the rules as soon as this afternoon and trigger a no-confidence vote against PM Johnson before the end of the day.

Market reaction

GBP/USD managed to stage a recovery in the last hour but continues to trade in negative territory. As of writing, the pair was down 0.25% on a daily basis at 1.1927.