Pound sterling hits six-month high

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TOKYO: The pound advanced to a six-month high against the dollar on Thursday after the latest polls favoured Britain remaining in the European Union, just hours before referendum voting was due to open.

Polls by ComRes, conducted for the Daily Mail newspaper and ITV television, and by YouGov for The Times newspaper in London, showed a last-minute rise in support for Britain to remain in the EU.  Reduced Brexit fears have helped sterling gain roughly three percent so far this week, although several poll results have been too close to call a definitive outcome.  The pound was up 0.6 percent at $1.4793 after touching $1.4847, its highest since the beginning of the year. A wait-and-see mood was expected to prevail through the rest of the day, dotted by possible bouts of volatility, as markets nervously awaited the British poll results.

"It will be hard for the market move until the poll results are released. The pound obviously will take centre stage.

But other European currencies and particularly dollar/yen also bear watching as the pair will reflect swings in risk sentiment," said Shin Kadota, chief Japan FX strategist at Barclays in Tokyo.