Scotland votes: Markets rejoice and pound bounces back as nation rejects independence

Expert says pound could surge 1 per cent within opening minutes

The pound spikes against the dollar as YouGov's 'final prediction' is published

The financial markets rejoiced through the night at the pending victory of the No campaign in the Scottish referendum.

The pound first surged at 10.30 last night after the YouGov poll predicted the result and it continued to rally through the night to be back at levels not seen for three weeks-since before the shock Sunday Times poll which suggested the Yes camp would win.

Brenda Kelly, a trader at IG Index in London said: "It has been a very busy night and we are seeing a very big relief rally."

Speaking shortly after the Glasgow result this morning showed a No vote was inevitable, she said: 'We're now expecting the FTSE-100 to surge when the market opens later today. It could rally at least 1 per cent in the opening minutes to levels above 6880 points. You could even see the FTSE pushing to new records. We're near 14 year highs already so we could soon be pushing to the 6930 all time high from 1999."

In New Zealand, Simon Coulter, a currency broker at Mahi FX, said: "It has been one of the busiest Asian trading sessions I've seen for many months, possibly years. The pound has been rallying really hard. There has been a mood of great relief for investors. This status quo result is seen as being good for the financial system."

The pound, which had been below $1.64 before the 10.30pm YouGov poll, shot up to $1.6444 within minutes of that prediction and spent the rest of the night bouncing higher at above $1.65 despite dipping after the Dundee and West Dumbartonshire results.

"It was after the Glasgow result that we have seen investors push the pound higher again,“ said Ms Kelly. "It's a massive relief rally coming in."