Business News

TOKYO, (APP/AFP) – The pound slipped on Tuesday after
its best one-day gain since the 2008 global financial crisis, with Britain’s nailbiting vote on its future in the European Union just days away.
Polls suggest the race is tight and could go either way when Britons
cast their ballot in an historic vote on Thursday that will decide whether the country stays or leaves the 28-member EU.
The pound has been on a see-saw as the referendum approaches, with
critics of a so-called Brexit warning that leaving could spell disaster for Britain’s prospects.
“It is difficult to take long positions now ahead of the vote,” said
Minori Uchida, head of Tokyo global markets research at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.
In Tokyo, the pound edged down to $1.4657 from $1.4675 in New York,
where it had jumped 2.4 percent to $1.4708 at one stage, its biggest daily gain in years.
The ‘Remain’ camp on Monday won support from investor George Soros
who warned that an exit vote would spell economic doom for Britain.
Soros made a billion pounds by betting against sterling in a 1992
currency crisis that became known as Black Wednesday.
“Sterling is almost certain to fall steeply and quickly if leave wins
the referendum,” Soros wrote in The Guardian.
“I would expect this devaluation to be bigger and also more
disruptive than the 15 percent devaluation that occurred in September 1992.”
In other trading, the euro rose to $1.1333 and 117.90 yen from
$1.1311 and 117.55 yen in New York.
The dollar edged up to 104.02 yen from 103.93 yen.