Pound sterling gets big boost from Scotland’s ‘no’ vote

The British pound rose sharply on Friday morning after Scotland said "No" to independence, reclaiming its position as the best-performing major currency of the past 12 months.

With the margin of victory about 55 per cent to 45 per cent (See: Relief for Cameron as Scotland decides against separation) , the sterling is on course for its biggest two-day rise against the dollar in more than a year.

Early on Friday, Scotland's support for the 307-year-old Union boosted the pound, which rose against the dollar to $1.6525 at one stage - up nearly 1 percentage point since midnight. The pound also strengthened against the euro to €1.2785 - the strongest in more than two years.

FTSE 100 futures pointed to the blue chip index opening more than 1 per cent up on Friday, boosted by the poll results and a strong performance on Wall Street where the Dow Jones climbed 109 points - or 0.64 per cent - to a freash record high of 17,266.

Sterling strengthened initially after Clamannashire, the first constituency to declare, voted against independence shortly before 1.30 am. It was a blow to Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond as the small council with just 0.9 per cent of the Scottish population was a top "Yes" target. Credit Suisse had given it a 10/10 liklihood of the council voting "Yes"- the highest it predicted across the whole of Scotland - but in the end 19,036 vote "No", against 16,350 who voted "Yes".

The pound gained further to $1.6518 shortly afterwards when Orkney - the constituency of Alistair Carmichael, Secretary of State for Scotland - declared a "No" vote, with 10,004 votes to 4,883. The island is a strong Liberal Democrat territory that was expected to return a safe "No" vote. Shetland, its northerly neighbour, revealed similar results.

Not even a "Yes" vote in Glasgow was able to dampen sterling's rise.