By Anneken Tappe and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

The British pound was slightly weaker on Wednesday after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal was defeated in Parliament and ahead of a no-confidence vote in the government that will be debated later in the day.

Don't miss:After historic Brexit defeat -- what's next? (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/after-historic-brexit-defeat-whats-next-2019-01-15)

The vote against May's Brexit deal was largely expected but the severity of the defeat took some by surprise: the House of Commons voted 432-202 against the deal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/british-parliament-rejects-prime-minister-mays-brexit-deal-2019-01-15), with 118 of May's fellow Conservatives turning against her. Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would bring a vote of no-confidence in the government, which will be debated on Wednesday. If Parliament declares it has no confidence in May's government, fresh elections could be called down the line. However, some traders said they doubt the no-confidence motion will even see the light of day.

Meanwhile, May has until Monday to present a new option or options to Parliament. "This increases the possibility that Britain will ask for an extension to Article 50 -- i.e., a delay of Brexit past the official 29 March date -- while it tries to figure out something that they can all agree on," said Marshall Gittler, chief strategist at ACLS Global, in a note to clients.

The pound , which swung nearly 2% against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, was slightly weaker on Wednesday, last changing hands at $1.2844, down from $1.2860.

Sterling pared the sharp losses it incurred over the course of Tuesday trading after May's deal was rejected, as May vowed she wasn't trying to run down the clock on the Brexit timeline. The rejected vote also buys some time and increases the chance of a Brexit reversal, which is sterling-positive, market participants said.

The euro was slightly weaker versus the pound, buying GBP0.8866, down 0.1%.

And:3 reasons why investors outside of the U.K. should care about Brexit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brexit-vote-3-reasons-investors-outside-of-the-uk-should-care-2019-01-14)

Elsewhere, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index edged 0.1% higher to 96.091.

The euro slipped to $1.1395, compared with $1.1415 late Tuesday. The shared currency suffered on Tuesday, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said economic developments in the currency bloc had been weaker than expected (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-falls-to-session-lows-as-ecbs-draghi-says-economy-has-been-weaker-than-expected-2019-01-15).

Don't miss:Is Germany already in a 'technical' recession? These economists think so (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-europes-biggest-economy-is-in-danger-of-entering-a-technical-recession-2019-01-14)

The worst performers among G10 currencies were the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar , in the wake of soggy December consumer spending figures out of New Zealand.

The Aussie dropped 0.4% to $0.7176, while the kiwi was down 0.7%, buying $0.6773.

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/after-historic-brexit-defeat-whats-next-2019-01-15)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 16, 2019 08:32 ET (13:32 GMT)