Pound edges down as voting starts in Britain's EU poll

TOKYO: The pound edged down Thursday afternoon, coming off its highest levels against the dollar this year, as millions headed to the polls in a vote on Britain's future in the European Union.
Sterling bought US$1.4766 in afternoon Tokyo trading, down from the US$1.48 level before the voting started and US$1.4844 -- its highest level against the US unit this year -- on Thursday morning.
The pound also slipped to 154.07 yen from 154.84 yen earlier in the day and 1.3005 euros from 1.3051 euros.
A record 46.5 million voters have registered to decide on Britain's future in the 28-nation bloc.
With no exit polls under way, the result is unlikely to begin emerging before about 0300 GMT Friday.
On the eve of the historic referendum, two polls -- both conducted over the Internet -- put the "Leave" camp ahead by one or two percentage points, well within the margin of error.
In one telephone poll, however, "Remain" took a notable lead of 48%, ahead of "Leave" on 42% with the rest undecided, according to a survey by ComRes for the Daily Mail and ITV News.
"Markets seem to have almost entirely priced in a 'Remain' vote win, meaning that the market moves and volatility around the vote may be far less than many had expected," Angus Nicholson, a Melbourne-based market analyst at IG, said in a commentary.
"Nonetheless, markets are still incredibly nervous and some sharp market moves are likely over the next 24 hours."
Financial institutions are reinforcing teams to cope with the prospect of frantic trading through the day and the world's leading central banks say they are ready to react to any eventuality.
"There remains plenty of scope for volatility on either outcome," said Ray Attrill, global co-head of foreign-exchange strategy at National Bank Australia.
In other trading, the dollar slipped to 104.34 yen, from 104.51 yen in US trade, while the euro gained to US$1.1345 and 118.37 yen from US$1.1313 and 118.24 yen. – AFP