Pound at two-month low on British EU exit fears

AFP, TOKYO: The pound dropped to a two-month low and the yen rallied yesterday as jittery investors shifted into safer assets on worries about Britain’s possible exit from the European Union.
The flight to lower-yielding investments came as Asian stock markets plunged, with dealers awaiting meetings this week of the US and Japanese central banks.
Few expect any move on interest rates from the Federal Reserve, but observers are divided over the chances that the Bank of Japan will announce more stimulus after its policy meeting ends Thursday.
With next week’s referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EU on a knife-edge, analysts said traders were rushing to safe-haven investments.
“There are genuine Brexit risks as the price action in the yen suggests,” said Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Mizuho Bank.
“It looks quite clearly, there’s been some safe-haven trade that’s filtering through.”
A series of opinion polls have suggested Britain could vote to leave the EU, which many fear will lead to a fresh wave of turmoil across global markets.

Pound at two-month low on British EU exit fears

AFP, TOKYO: The pound dropped to a two-month low and the yen rallied yesterday as jittery investors shifted into safer assets on worries about Britains possible exit from the European Union. The flight to lower-yielding investments came as Asian stock markets plunged, with dealers awaiting meetings this week of the US and Japanese central banks. Few expect any move on interest rates from the Federal Reserve, but observers are divided over the chances that the Bank of Japan will announce more stimulus after its policy meeting ends Thursday. With next weeks referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EU on a knife-edge, analysts said traders were rushing to safe-haven investments. There are genuine Brexit risks as the price action in the yen suggests, said Vishnu Varathan, an economist at Mizuho Bank. It looks quite clearly, theres been some safe-haven trade thats filtering through. A series of opinion polls have suggested Britain could vote to leave the EU, which many fear will lead to a fresh wave of turmoil across global markets.