London : Britain’s pound raced on Thursday to its highest dollar level this year, propelled by renewed hopes the world’s fifth biggest economy will remain in the EU in a closely-fought referendum.
The pound surged in morning deals to USD 1.4947 — its highest level since December 28 — as Britons headed to the polls in a hotly-contested in-or-out EU membership vote.
Sterling hit the pinnacle in frenetic foreign exchange activity as a new Ipsos MORI opinion poll put “Remain” on 52 per cent and “Leave” on 48 per cent. The British currency also struck a three-week high point at 76.23 pence to the euro.
Traders appear increasingly confident that Britons will decide against pulling out of the 28-nation bloc, but sterling stopped just short of USD 1.50. Bookies are also putting their money on Remain.
“The market is now fully expecting a win for the Remain camp,” City Index research director Kathleen Brooks told AFP. “The sharp upswing towards $1.50 was also reflective of what was going on with the EU referendum odds.
“The market that looks at the margin of victory for the Remain camp started to price in a win for Remain by a fairly decent margin.” In afternoon London trade, the pound stood at $1.4790 as profit-taking set in. It also pulled back to stand at 76.69 pence to the euro.
“Mounting expectations of victory for Remain prompted an unwinding of Brexit hedges, boosting the pound,” Nick Stamenkovic, macro strategist at RIA Capital Markets said. AFP
