Pound Jumps Above $1.5400 After U.K. Election Poll Puts Conservatives In The Lead

The pound jumped to as high as $1.5429 Thursday evening after an exit poll from the U.K. general election put the Conservatives in the lead by a surprisingly large margin. The pound traded at $1.5397 at the latest, up from $1.5249 ahead of the exit poll and better than the $1.5247 from late Wednesday. The poll showed David Cameron's Conservative Party is poised to win 316 seats, 10 more than it secured in the 2010 election. Opinion polls ahead of the election indicated the Tories would get less seats at this election. The Labour Party was predicted to win 239 seats in this year's election, which would be less than the 258 spots it scored in 2010. However, given the tight opinion polls leading up to the election, the exit poll should be handled with care. "It's positive for the pound. Less change, means less political instability and this would ease investor concerns," said Jameel Ahmad, chief market analyst at ForexTime.