Investing.com - The pound rose to a two-year high against the euro on Thursday and hit its highest level against the dollar in two weeks, boosted by hopes that Scotland will vote to remain inside the United Kingdom.
EUR/GBP was last down 0.49% to 0.7864, the lowest level since August 2012.
Sterling strengthened earlier Thursday after the final Ipsos Mori opinion poll of the Scottish referendum campaign showed the no vote slightly ahead with 53%, while support for the yes vote was at 47%.
However due to the large number of undecided voters and the high turnout polls have indicated that the final outcome may be too close to call.
Sterling dropped to 10 month lows against the dollar last week as uncertainty over what currency an independent Scotland would use, as well as concerns over how much of the U.K. national debt it would take on rattled financial markets.
Earlier Thursday, official data showed that U.K. retail sales rose in line with forecasts in last month.
U.K. retail sales rose 0.4% in August and were 3.9% higher on a year-over-year basis, the Office for National Statistics reported.
Sales of household good sales jumped 12.7% from a year earlier, bolstered by sales of high powered vacuum cleaners ahead of a European Union ban on powerful electrical appliances.
GBP/USD advanced 0.69% to 1.6383, the highest since September 4.
In the U.S., data on Thursday showed that the number of people filing first time claims for unemployment benefits fell by a larger-than-expected 36,000 to 280,000 last week, the lowest since July.
A separate report showed that U.S. housing starts and building permits fell August, but upward revisions to the previous month’s readings indicated that the recovery in the housing sector is continuing.
Another report showed that manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region ticked lower this month.
The dollar remained broadly stronger after the Federal Reserve offered fresh guidance on its plans to raise interest rates at the conclusion of its two day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.
The Fed statement reiterated that it expects rates to remain on hold for a "considerable time", after its bond purchasing program ends, but it outlined in more detail how it will start to raise short term interest rates when the time comes.
The Fed cut its monthly asset purchase program by another $10 billion, keeping the program on track to finish next month.