Britain’s pro-EU side nervous as odds slashed on ‘leave’

As the vote over whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union is drawing near, analysts are issuing a series of warnings that Britain’s EU exit, or “Brexit”, would have a severe impact on the global economy. The Federal Open Market Committee will be holding its monetary policy meeting from June 14-15.

The British pound remained fragile near a two-month low against the dollar and the yen hovered near six-week highs against the USA currency on worries Britain may leave the European Union in a referendum less than 10 days away.

Gold priced in dollars, the global benchmark, increased 0.2 percent to $1,290 an ounce on the Comex in NY at 10:04 a.m., heading for a fifth straight gain.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 57.66 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,674.82. China’s main Shanghai composite added 0.32 per cent.

Britain’s main opposition leader on Tuesday made an impassioned plea for voters to keep the country in the European Union, saying Brexit would be a “bonfire” of workers’ rights.

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While last month there was a large group of investors betting that the Fed would raise interest rates, the last two monthly jobs reports in the US have put a damper on expectations.

A compilation of the six latest polls by the WhatUKThinks research project, which excludes undecided voters, puts the Brexit camp ahead by 51 percent to 49 percent.

A vote by Britain to leave the European Union, dubbed “Brexit”, may tip Europe back into recession, putting more pressure on the global economy.

Britain’s currency stayed lower as data showed annual inflation held at 0.3 percent in May, falling short of economists’ forecasts for an increase to 0.4 percent.

The Financial Times” Poll of Polls meanwhile shows “Leave” enjoy an advantage of 46% to “Remains’ 44%. Growth in investment in factories and other fixed assets weakened to 9.6 percent in the January-May period from 10.5 percent for the four months through April.

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 fell 50 cents to $49.85 a barrel by 10:02 a.m. EDT (1402 GMT), while US crude futures CLc1 lost 40 cents to $48.48 a barrel.

In commodities, benchmark USA crude dropped 39 cents to $48.49 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Sterling lost 0.6 per cent to US$1.4182 and fell against all 16 major peers as of 1:30 pm Tuesday Tokyo time. It shed 19 cents on Monday to $50.35.

The debate now among traders is whether the BoJ will take policy steps on Thursday aimed at weakening the currency, when a vote for a Brexit next week would be expected to drive more buying of the yen globally as a safe haven for capital.