Just over three weeks before the referendum on pulling out of the EU, the Guardian/ICM polls showed the “leave” vote at 52 percent against 48 percent for staying, a surprise reversal in sentiment.
The poll matched the trend seen in other surveys. For example, the Financial Times survey showed the “stay” vote still ahead but the gap between the two narrowed to three percentage points from six points a week ago.
That rekindled nervousness in markets, where breaking from the 28-country union is seen as likely to spur significant markets turmoil and slow or stall the British economy.
The pound sank by 1.0 percent to $1.4478, and the euro also gained 1.0 percent at 0.7689 pence.
The dollar was little-changed against the euro despite mostly good economic data on rising home prices and a rebound in consumer spending that supported the Federal Reserve moving to raise interest rates in the next two months.
CME fed fund rate futures put a 22.5 percent likelihood on an increase at the Fed’s June 14-15 meeting, while the odds for a July 26-27 meeting rise were nearly 60 percent.
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