Pound surges as Scotland says 'No' to independence

The pound has soared in response to the results of Scotland's independence referendum, hitting a two-year high against the euro.

"Scotland has voted against independence overnight in a move that has removed a great weight from the shoulders of sterling," Simon Smith, chief economist at FXPro told the Times.

The FTSE 100 also soared by 51 points as the markets opened this morning, led by the Royal Bank of Scotland. RBS shares increased by 3.5 per cent in early morning trading after the bank confirmed that it would not be moving its headquarters out of Scotland.

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There is a "collective sigh of relief across the business community" following this morning's results, the Confederation of British Industry director-general John Cridland told the Guardian.

"Such a difficult campaign inevitably leaves scars which will take time to heal and we now need politicians, businesses and citizens to unite to achieve a better future for all in the UK."

The pound had fallen in recent weeks as markets responded to the uncertainty of the referendum result, with business leaders warning that a Yes vote would cause serious market volatility.

"There is still uncertainty, primarily over the new changes to voting on English issues," Brenda Kelly from IG Index told the BBC. "But these are of importance primarily to politicians and less so to markets."