• The Conservatives are set to be the largest party but without an overall majority according a joint BBC/Sky/ITV exit poll, which indicated the Tories will win 314 seats and Labour 266.
The poll suggest Britain is heading for a hung parliament, with Conservatives 12 seats short of the 326 they need for an absolute majority in the Commons.
• Theresa May's Conservative Party may be on course to lose its majority in the British Parliament, ceding big gains to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party, according to an exit poll Thursday night.
Conservatives remain the largest party in Parliament, but the British pound dropped sharply immediately after the poll results were released. The pound hit a low of $1.2704, its lowest level since April 18.
If the exit poll proves correct, the Conservatives would have 314 seats, Labour 266, Liberal Democrats 14, Scottish National Party 34 and other 22.
326 seats are required for a majority.
• The pound fell sharply in early trade on Friday after a British election exit poll showed Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party falling short of a majority, likely resulting in a hung parliament.
If the exit poll proves correct, the shock result would plunge domestic politics into turmoil and could delay Brexit talks.
Sterling was down 1.4 percent at $1.2780 after sliding to as low as $1.2705 GBP=D4, down about 2 percent and the weakest since April 18.
• Buoyed by the pound's fall, the dollar index against a basket of major currencies was up 0.3 percent at97.236 .DXY. The dollar was flat at 110.010 against the safe-haven yen JPY=. And the euro extended overnight losses and was 0.1 percent lower at $1.1199 EUR=.
• The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, unwinding half of the prior period's jump and suggesting the labor market was tightening despite a recent slowdown in job growth.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 245,000 for the week ended June 3, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The report followed data on Tuesday showing job openings at a record high in April.
Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market, for 118 straight weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was smaller. The labor market is near full employment, with the jobless rate at a 16-year low of 4.3 percent.
• Former FBI Director James Comey accused President Donald Trump on Thursday of firing him to try to undermine the agency's investigation of possible collusion by Trump's campaign with Russia's alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
• Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to replace the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, a move that is expected to die in the Senate but open the door to revamping or eliminating regulations that came out of the 2007-09 financial crisis.
• The Bank of Japan has far to go to reach its 2 percent inflation target, but its ultra-loose monetary policy has helped stabilize public inflation expectations, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday.
• Oil prices fell again on Thursday, with a sell-off continuing the day after data showed a surprise surge in U.S. crude inventories, and Brent settled at its lowest since Nov. 29, the eve of an OPEC production cut deal.
Brent crude LCOc1 fell 20 cents to settle at $47.87 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 settled down 8cents to $45.64 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, Telegraph, CNBC
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