Sterling climbed to a 2016 high and world stocks rose for a fifth day running on Thursday, as British voters headed to the polls for a referendum on their European Union membership, Reuters reported. Financial markets have been racked for months by worries about what Brexit would mean for Europe's stability. The pound, which has been the lightning rod for opinion on the EU referendum throughout the six-month campaign, was up 1 percent at $1.49 as traders cut their bets on volatility after the vote. Equity markets followed suit. London's FTSE jumped 1.6 percent and Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 surged 2.3 percent.
