Sterling falls further as investors take flight on independence fears

Sterling sold off further overnight, exacerbating Monday's losses, as nervous investors ditched the pound and UK shares on fears Scotland may vote to break apart next week.

With the pro-independence movement taking the lead in the polls at such a late stage, investors have taken flight, pushing the pound down rapidly in the last few days. Having tumbled over 1% on Monday, it lost more ground overnight against the dollar, and now trades at $1.6083. As well as selling the pound, investors are using the uncertainty caused by the vote as a reason to take profits on shares after the run to near record peaks in the UK and elsewhere. Yesterday the FTSE 100 retreated, led down by banks, while markets in the US followed suit with the S&P 500 and Dow also slipp...