Pound under renewed pressure as polls show more backing for Brexit

The cost of insuring against a massive drop in the pound hit levels not seen since the global finance crisis earlier after opinion polls showed growing support for Leave in the EU referendum.

The pound hit a three-week low against the dollar with frenzied trading in the Far East passing on to London, where sterling fell 1.04 cents to $1.4414, having been as low as $1.4353 at one point.

“The polls are likely to make people rather uneasy, and we can see that quite clearly today in the pound,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at forex trader Oanda.

“With both sides likely to step up their game over the next couple of weeks, I imagine we’ll see a lot more volatility in the pound, and the closer the polls get, or if ‘Vote Leave’ continues to push ahead, the pound may find itself back towards April’s lows before too long,” Erlam said.

Some analysts, including UBS last week, have suggested that the pound could fall by as much as 15% against the dollar in the event of a Brexit result.