To stay or not to stay - the final scene unfolds

[EDINBURGH] To stay or not to stay, that was the question Scots were deciding on when they voted in an independence referendum on Thursday that decides the fate of the United Kingdom.

Opinion polls showed hundreds of thousands of them were agonising over whether to remain with the 307-year union or back secession. Polling stations were due to close at 5am on Friday and the result expected shortly.

Financial investors stepped up hedging against sharp fluctuations in the value of Britain's pound over the next 24 hours. The overnight sterling/dollar implied volatility rose to a high of 34.75 per cent, almost 10 times levels seen a month ago, having closed on Wednesday at around 12.75 per cent.

Currency dealers said they are bracing for choppy trading as the first regions likely to report results could show a tendency to lean towards independence. That could put sterling under pressu…