LONDON: Sterling hit a fresh 10-month low against the dollar and a three-month trough against the euro on Wednesday, with traders citing an online survey on the Scottish independence which gave the "Yes" camp a strong lead.
Market talk in morning trade in Europe surrounded the prospect of another poll due to be released late on Wednesday by the Survation polling agency for the Daily Record.
The agency said on Twitter that those results would be "very interesting".
Adding to nerves was an unverified web poll conducted by an independent blogger that showed the pro-indepedence camp leading with 53.9 percent to 46.1 percent for those who intended to vote "No".
Sterling slid to $1.6052 in response, having traded a full cent higher earlier in the day. It was last down 0.1 percent at $1.6088.
The euro gained to its strongest since June at 80.635 pence.
It last traded at 80.49 pence, up 0.2 percent on the day. "This fits with the recent trend we've seen in polls with a shift towards the 'Yes' vote," said Ian Stannard, head of European currency strategy at Morgan Stanley.
It is likely that there will be many unverified polls in the lead up to the referendum on Sept. 18, which could see sterling fall further, Stannard said.
"Several polls coming out giving that message are going to have a continued impact on the market."
The cost of hedging against further sterling weakness against the dollar rose to 11.05 percent - the highest since November 2011.
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