Guy Foster: ‘No one wants to own anything’ from UK

With only one month to go before the UK votes on whether to remain in the EU, investors are piling into contracts protecting against stock swings, paying prices not seen in more than a year for the hedges.

More than 76,000 options on the Ftse 100 Index changed hands on average each day this month through the end of last week, the most in six years.

Traders are pricing in a 20% jump in UK equity volatility through June.