British drift to EU exit spooks investors as voters switch off

London

AS UK voters make up their minds before an election on May 7, the issue that matters to financial markets is one that's barely troubling them.

Opinion polls show that a referendum on leaving the European Union (EU), a signature policy of the governing Conservative Party, is way down the priority list of an electorate more concerned about health care, immigration and sustaining a nascent economic recovery. Executives and investors say that the prospect of an EU exit would hit confidence in stocks, bonds and the pound as well as push some companies to freeze spending.