The turbulence that struck global financial markets at the end of last month saw the yen making strong gains against all the world’s leading currencies. But sterling was hit harder than either the dollar or euro, the world’s other leading reserve currencies. And that has served to further change the market’s view of the pound, which only a few weeks ago was riding high.

Analysts say the yen rose because rising risk aversion prompted investors to unwind carry trades, in which the purchase of riskier high-yielding assets had been funded by selling the low-yielding yen.