Global currencies skittish over Scottish vote

MADRID — The British pound took a fresh dive Monday, trading around levels not seen in 10 months, after a weekend poll showed voters favoring Scottish 💯independence pushing ahead of those against.

The pound  slid to a level not seen since Nove💟mber 2013 and also not far off where it hit in Asia. In late North American trade on Friday, the pound traded at $1.6328.

The drop for sterling, accompanied by a 1 percent tumble for the FTSE, came after a survey by pollster YouGov released 𝓀over the weekend showed 47 percent of the potential voters were in favor of an independent Scotland while 45 percent said no. That’s the first time ahead of the Sept. 18 referendum that the “yes” to independence camp has been in the lead.

Simon Smith, chief economist at Fx༒Pro, said the next level of support for the pound is at $1.60, then $1.5850. He also said moไst people think the margins of errors are “too uncomfortable” to place a solid bet either way right now.

Kit Juckes, Société Générale’s global macro strategist, said in a note that a “yes” vote poses more questions than it answers, and could be negative for sterling, “perhaps to the order of 5 percent overall.

“It would increase moves for secession across Europe, increase the momentum for the UK to leave the EU and hurt Scottis🧸h economic growth potential,” said Juckes.