Sterling inched lower against the dollar and the euro on Monday while British government bond yields slipped to session lows as Prime Minister Theresa May outlined the Plan B of her European Union divorce deal to parliament.

Sterling traded almost 0.2 percent lower at $1.2847 versus around $1.2860 just before her speech while against the euro too it weakened to 88.415 pence compared to 88.340 pence earlier .

The currency inched back up to trade near flat on the day as May finished her speech.

The 10-year gilt yield touched a session low of 1.307 percent as May spoke, down four basis points on the day. The FTSE 100 rose as the pound weakened to rise 0.1 percent.

Just ahead of the speech, the exporter-heavy index had been flat.