Pound records 2.23% gain as EU sets date for polls

Two days before the European Union (EU) referendum, the pound, on Tuesday, recorded 2.23 per cent growth in the international market  in London.

The currency climbed to as high as $1.4783, stronger than what was achieved at any point since Prime Minister David Cameron announced the date of the vote in February. The rise represents more than three cents, which is gauged to be the biggest one-day gain since 2009.

The pound had fallen sharply over the course of last week, after polls appeared to indicate the Leave campaign was taking the lead.

But figures from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a US markets regulator, suggested a broader change in trading sentiment by Friday.

That data indicated that by the end of last week, currency speculators had begun to back the pound again by reducing their bets against the currency.

Read also: Naira falls to N286/ per dollar in interbank market

That contrasted strongly to the first week of June, during which time traders’ bets against the pound had risen to the highest level in three years.

With polls showing the ‘Remain’ campaign is gaining support, bookmakers and gamblers are also strengthening in their conviction that the U.K. will opt to remain in the EU.

However, analysts say there is likely to be more volatility this week.

Billionaire investor George Soros, who made $1 billion betting on a devaluation of the pound in 1992, became the latest high-profile business or political leader to warn about the economic dangers of leaving the EU, saying the pound may slump more than 20 percent against the dollar. Such a devaluation would be bigger and more disruptive than when he profited from betting against the currency in 1992.

The bounce followed several polls over the weekend that suggested a very tight race, but that the Leave campaign may have lost a little momentum.

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