GBP/USD: Liquidity Is Thin, Volatility May Be Huge

 | Jun 23, 2016 04:19AM ET

GBP/USD: Here Comes Brexit Referendum - Liquidity Is Thin, Volatility May Be Huge

  • Brexit polling is taking place between 6:00-21:00 GMT today, with the results expected early on Friday.
  • The campaign to keep Britain in the European Union got a boost from two opinion polls published late on Wednesday, a few hours before voters begin to cast their votes in a historic EU membership referendum. The news pushed the GBP to its highest level against the USD dollar so far this year on the signs of a last-minute rise in support for staying in the EU. Investors have mostly feared that a so-called Brexit would damage the economy in Britain and possibly beyond.
  • A telephone survey by polling firm ComRes, conducted for the Daily Mail newspaper and ITV television showed the "Remain" campaign had a 48% to 42% lead over "Leave". A previous ComRes poll for The Sun newspaper, which was published on June 14, had given a lead of just one point to the "Remain" camp which has been led by Prime Minister David Cameron and the heads of Britain's other major political parties.
  • At almost the same time, another poll by YouGov for The Times newspaper showed "In" leading "Out" by 51 to 49%. A previous YouGov poll for The Times had put "Out" ahead. Betting odds moved further in favour of a vote to stay in the EU after the two polls were published. Betfair, a gambling firm, showed the probability of an "In" vote rising to almost 80%.
  • The cost of hedging against sharp swings in sterling over the next 24 hours surged on Thursday as the contract rolled over to capture the date of the result for Britain's vote on whether it wants to stay in the European Union or leave. Liquidity is very thin and the volatility of the GBP/USD could be huge. We stay sideways on GBP pairs because of elevated risk ahead of the Brexit referendum result. Our baseline scenario is that the “Remain” vote will prevail.

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