Morning Trading

: In morning trading on Thursday, the pound broke through $1.49 against the dollar for the first time since December, before easing back in the afternoon, according to The Guardian. The FTSE 100 index of leading shares added a solid 1.2%, or 77 points, to close at 6338, the highest since late April. Brexit explained: The Guardian leader As the market exuberance of recent trading sessions continued, there were fresh warnings that investors were setting themselves up for heavy losses in the event of Brexit when the outcome of the vote became clear on Friday. Clearly the key issue now for currency markets is whether rising expectations that the status quo will prevail are well-placed, said Chris Saint, senior analyst at the financial firm Hargreaves Lansdown. Dramatic exchange rate swings are to be expected regardless of the result, with a sharp drop in the pound value possible in the event of a Brexit. Most of the results from the local counting areas are expected by the early hours of Friday morning with the official outcome anticipated by around breakfast time. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.