London: The British pound seesawed wildly today and betting markets dramatically shortened the odds on Britain leaving the European Union as increasingly mixed signals challenged earlier market anticipation of a narrow victory for "remain."

The pound initially soared as polls closed and two opinion surveys put "remain" ahead and two leading supporters of the "leave" campaign said it appeared the pro-EU side had won. But it then suffered its biggest fall in years, plummeting from about USD 1.50 to almost USD 1.40 as results began to show stronger-than-expected support for quitting the bloc.