Stocks and sterling rose while safe-haven assets gold and bonds slipped yesterday, as investors grew more optimistic Britain would vote to remain in the European Union in its referendum today.

Riskier markets also drew support from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s comments on the US economy on Tuesday, when she virtually ruled out a July interest rate hike.

Wall Street stocks gained one per cent so far this week although the mood was cautious, with the potential for new opinion polls to swing markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.48 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 17,850.21, the S&P 500 gained 5.04 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 2,093.94 and the Nasdaq Composite added 19.69 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 4,863.46. The MSCI’s all-country world stock index rose 0.6 per cent for a 2.6-per cent gain so far this week.

Betting patterns with bookmakers have shown a re-opening of the gap in favour of “Remain” after the murder last week of a pro-EU lawmaker appeared to derail the “Leave” campaign.

Stock market gains were more pronounced in Europe. Europe’s FTSEuroFirst index of 300 leading shares was up 0.8 per cent , Germany’s DAX was up 1.1 per cent , France’s CAC 40 up 0.9 per cent and Britain’s FTSE 100 up 1.1 per cent .

Sterling rose around 0.4 per cent against the dollar, climbing above $1.47 and edging back towards Tuesday’s $1.4781. The pound has risen 5 per cent since dropping to a three-month low of $1.4010 last Thursday.