AGL 37.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-0.68%)
AIRLINK 124.10 Increased By ▲ 2.59 (2.13%)
BOP 5.67 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-3.08%)
CNERGY 3.75 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DCL 8.55 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.79%)
DFML 40.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.41 (-1%)
DGKC 87.10 Increased By ▲ 2.50 (2.96%)
FCCL 33.98 Increased By ▲ 1.28 (3.91%)
FFBL 66.01 Increased By ▲ 0.51 (0.78%)
FFL 10.20 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.49%)
HUBC 104.45 Increased By ▲ 0.65 (0.63%)
HUMNL 13.45 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (1.51%)
KEL 4.78 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (7.9%)
KOSM 6.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-3.53%)
MLCF 38.84 Increased By ▲ 1.34 (3.57%)
NBP 60.35 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.17%)
OGDC 179.65 Increased By ▲ 7.40 (4.3%)
PAEL 24.97 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (0.69%)
PIBTL 5.71 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.18%)
PPL 153.00 Increased By ▲ 11.31 (7.98%)
PRL 22.79 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.31%)
PTC 14.91 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.15%)
SEARL 66.85 Increased By ▲ 2.29 (3.55%)
TELE 7.01 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-1.82%)
TOMCL 35.70 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.56%)
TPLP 7.32 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.41%)
TREET 13.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-1.48%)
TRG 50.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.80 (-1.55%)
UNITY 26.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.75%)
WTL 1.23 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.82%)
BR100 9,717 Increased By 233.5 (2.46%)
BR30 29,237 Increased By 866.2 (3.05%)
KSE100 90,860 Increased By 1893.1 (2.13%)
KSE30 28,458 Increased By 630.4 (2.27%)

Sterling jumped above $1.44 on Tuesday for the first time this month as nerves about a possible Brexit were soothed a little by two polls showing the "In" camp well ahead in the run-up to Britain's referendum on European Union membership. A string of recent surveys had shown a drift towards the "Out" camp ahead of the June 23 ballot, leaving the outcome too close to call. But polls from ICM and ORB late on Monday gave the campaign to remain in the bloc a lead of eight and 11 points respectively.
Helped also by a strong recovery in oil prices and risk sentiment, sterling soared by more than 1 percent to hit $1.4420 in afternoon trading in London, its highest since March 31. Britain's hefty current account deficit makes investors wary of the currency at times of market turbulence, while strong risk appetite drives demand for the pound. But after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told members of parliament that uncertainty around the referendum was already weighing on the economy, sterling eased back a little, to $1.4394. That still left it up around 0.8 percent on the day. "There was a bit of a bump in the road after Carney spoke but in general sterling has done well today," said London Capital Group analyst Brenda Kelly.
"I wouldn't say it was all pound-driven. The euro is also higher and there is a real pushback on the dollar right now," she added. Sterling was also up around 0.3 percent against the euro at 79.01 pence, having earlier traded as high as 78.82 pence, its strongest this month. The pound is down around 6 percent since the start of the year on a trade-weighted basis, with most banks saying it would fall sharply in the event of a Brexit. But it has so far resisted a return to lows of $1.38 hit in February when the referendum date was announced.
Analysts say that in the run-up to the vote, sterling is likely to be increasingly sensitive to any signs that a Brexit is more likely. "(The new polls were) a nice turn for the 'remain' campaign after tighter polls hit the headlines over the past week," said Tobias Davis, head of corporate treasury sales at Western Union in London.

Copyright Reuters, 2016

Comments

Comments are closed.