By Tommy Stubbington
Sterling held on to gains it made late Thursday after a poll
showed a renewed lead for opponents of Scottish independence in the
run-up to next week's referendum.
The same pollster sent the pound into a tailspin earlier this
week when it showed pro-separatists in the lead for the first
time.
The pound was steady against the dollar at $1.6246 early
Friday.
"The panic is over for now and the market looks comfortable to
buy the pound on dips," said currency strategists at Citigroup.
More broadly, European stocks edged higher in early trade
Friday, on course to snap a five-session losing streak. The Stoxx
Europe 600 index was 0.2% higher. Markets fell slightly on
Thursday, weighed by some weak U.S. economic data and the
introduction of a fresh round of European Union sanctions against
Russia.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was 0.2% higher Friday. Germany's DAX and
France's CAC 40 added 0.1%.
The gains come at the end of a week in which the prospect that
the U.S. Federal Reserve may soon signal a rise in interest rates
has weighed on global stocks.
"Equity indexes continue to struggle across all the major
markets, and there may not be much relief in sight until next
week's [Fed] announcement hopefully adds some clarity to the U.S.
monetary policy outlook," said Ian Williams, economist and
strategist at brokerage Peel Hunt.
Elsewhere in currency markets, the Russian ruble fell 0.5% to a
fresh all-time low of 37.727 to the dollar as investors judged that
new EU sanctions will further crimp an already struggling Russian
economy.
The EU measures, initially approved on Monday, will take effect
Friday, reinforcing steps taken in July restricting trade, commerce
and financial links with Russia.
Even so, Russian stocks climbed, with the Micex index 0.5%
higher.
In commodities markets, gold was up 0.1% at $1,240.10 an ounce,
while Brent crude oil rose 0.4% to $99.21 a barrel.