Sterling turns positive against Dollar YTD ahead of referendum

British pound Sterling has hit a new high for the year as two separate polls suggested that odds have tilted in favor of the “Remain”. The pound traded 1.4849 against the dollar in Asian trading hours before scaling back some of the gains. The pound is currently trading at 1.48 against the dollar, up 0.45 percent this year so far. In the past week, the pound has risen more than 4 percent against the dollar.

A telephonic survey conducted by ComRes showed that “Remain” camp is leading with 54 percentage over “Leave” camp’s 46 percent. A separate poll conducted by YouGov gave the “Remain” camp 2 percentage points lead over the exit camp. These surveys on the eve of the referendum provided pound an edge against its major trading pairs. “Remain” camp has also taken a 2 percentage points lead over the “Leave” camp in Financial Times’ poll of polls, which is the average of the polls conducted since 2013.

Looking at the pound it seems the market is clearly pricing that the United Kingdom will stay in the European Union.