Sterling takes the strain as FTSE shares avoid Brexit impact

Less than three weeks before the UK votes on its membership in the EU, the country’s equity investors are much less worried about the outcome than their colleagues trading currencies.

While polls showing an advantage for the campaign to secede from the EU have sent a measure of the swings affecting sterling to a seven-year high this week, a similar gauge for the stock market has been steadier.

The FTSE 100 volatility index is now the lowest ever relative to its currency counterpart, according to data going back to 2008.