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General Election 2015: Pound surges against the euro after Conservatives storm ahead

A senior analyst at IG said: 'The effect on financial markets was electric'

Jim Armitage
Friday 08 May 2015 07:37 BST
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Sterling leaped 1.5cents against the dollar within fractions of a second of the poll hitting trading screens
Sterling leaped 1.5cents against the dollar within fractions of a second of the poll hitting trading screens (Getty Images)

The pound made its biggest one-day gain against the euro for two years and the FTSE-100 was expected to surge as the Conservatives stormed ahead in the polls on Friday.

Markets rejoiced at the prospect of a stable, Tory-led government continuing the austerity economics of the past five years.

Sterling leaped at 10pm following the exit polls and continued rising As results came in. Against the dollar it is now up 2 cents at $1.5498, traders said. The euro slumped against the booming pound by 1.54p to 72.46p.

Broadly, sterling moved in line with the results coming in and their effect on the spread betting markets predicting the outcome for the Tories. It peaked as, at one stage, these were indicating a spread of between 322-325 seats for the Tories. The spread is currently 319-322.

Nick Parsons, head of European Markets Strategy at National Australia Bank was one of the many City workers helping clients through the night.

He said: "The market's reaction is all about stability and continuity. We've had an extreme period of volatility in the run up to this election and now, at last, we are getting some certainty about the future."

Matt Brief, head of dealing at spread betting group IG Index reported that it had been a "very busy" night, with heavy betting on the Conservative seats. IG's punters are currently forecasting 322 seats for the Tories.

IG's prices indicated the FTSE-100 would jump 95 points when trading starts this morning.

Mr Brief said: "They don't even seem overly bothered that it's not an outright majority for the Tories, investors just see a convincing win which is bullish for the markets."

However, he cautioned that the EU referendum, which now looks inevitable, may take those gains down again.

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