Pound dives on results of three latest Brexit polls

New poll results showing that the 'Leave' campaign was gathering momentum ahead of the 23 June referendum on membership of the European Union sent sterling sharply lower at the start of the week.

The latest Observer/Opinium poll of voting intentions, published on Sunday, revealed that 43% of Britons now back the UK´s exit from the EU, with support for remaining inside at 40%.

That meant the 'Remain' camp had lost four percentage points of support over the past two weeks, during which Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have focused their campaign on the issue of immigration.

However, adjusting the sample to take into account that digital polls sometimes over-represent socially conservative voters then 43% of UK adults expected to back 'Remain' while 41% favoured 'Leave'.

Sunday´s poll also revealed that for 41% of respondents immigration was one of the two most important issues when making up their minds on how to vote.

The proportion of undecided voters leaning towards the 'Leave' camp had also shifted sharply since the last poll was conducted, according to Opinium.

Of those people canvassed 36% said they were leaning towards 'Remain' and 33% towards 'Leave', against 55% and 32% in the previous poll.

As of 08:45 BST cable was 0.64% down to 1.4432, having plumbed an intraday-low at 1.4352.

In parallel, a YouGov poll carried out on behalf of ITV showed 45% would choose 'Leave', versus 41% backing 'Remain'. A third poll from TNS put support for 'Leave' at 43% against 41% for 'Remain'.