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Pound extends rally in Asia as Brexit fears ease

Tokyo - The pound extended its rally in Asian trade on Monday as investors swung their bets to Britain voting to remain in the European Union this week.

Long-running fears of a pro-Brexit vote on June 23 had been hammering the British currency and became heightened in recent weeks as the "Leave" campaign pulled ahead in the polls.

On Monday, the pound gained as the first poll taken after the murder of pro-European Union lawmaker Jo Cox suggested the "Remain" camp was gaining momentum.

In Tokyo, the currency rose to $1.4570 from $1.4348 in New York late on Friday, when it rallied in part due to the three-day suspension of campaigning after the Cox's killing on Thursday.

The euro, meanwhile, firmed to $1.1353 and ¥118.82 from $1.1280 and ¥117.52, while the dollar rose to ¥104.66 from ¥104.19.

"Weekend polls suggested the tragic death of Jo Cox may be shifting some support back to 'Remain' - that has helped risk sentiment a bit," Robert Rennie, the global head of currency and commodity strategy at Westpac Banking in Sydney told Bloomberg News.

"The polls are also driving the move away from safe-haven currencies," Rennie said.

The probability of a vote to leave the EU declined to about 30% on Sunday from almost 40% on Wednesday, according to bookmaker odds processed by the Oddschecker website, Bloomberg reported.

But a key polling average calculated by research site What UK Thinks puts the "Remain" and "Leave" voters neck and neck.

The Japanese currency, often seen as a safe haven, had strengthened as concerns grew the "Leave" camp was headed to victory but has pulled back as Brexit momentum appeared to slow.

Japan's finance ministry announced early on Monday that the country logged a trade deficit of ¥40.72bn in May, the first shortfall since January.

In other trading, the dollar slipped against the Malaysian and Indonesian currencies, falling 0.97% to 3.9023 against the ringgit and 0.57% to 13 263.00 against the rupiah, respectively.

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