The pound rose to a two-week high against the dollar on speculation Scotland rejected independence in a referendum, keeping the U.K.’s 307-year union intact.
Sterling appreciated at least 0.3 percent against all 31 of its major peers as a YouGov Plc poll of voters yesterday predicted the “no” campaign gained 54 percent of the vote, compared with 46 percent for the nationalists. In Clackmannanshire, the first district to give its results, those against independence totaled 19,036, exceeding the 16,350 “yes” votes. The final outcome of the referendum is due early local time today.
“There’s been a good surge in the pound and a lot of that is probably pricing in the possibility of a ‘no’ vote,” said Imre Speizer, a markets strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Auckland. “Results from the YouGov poll, the last to be taken, coincided with a sharp rise in the pound.”
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