Jitters as EU leaders meet for Brexit summit

Uncertainty over the UK’s status in the EU continued to ripple through markets and unsettled businesses in the countdown to today’s two-day summit of European leaders, as German chancellor Angela Merkel threw her political muscle behind the push for a deal to keep Britain in.

Investor concern over the prospect of the UK leaving the EU, a so-called Brexit, had already weighed on sterling. It was a third of a percent up on the day against the euro yesterday having fallen to a 14-month trough of 78.9p last week.

Analysts say sterling could be knocked dramatically if Britons vote to leave in a referendum that could come in June.