Asian markets eased again on Tuesday, although China's bourses managed a partial recovery from Monday's sharp falls. Brexit promised Britons they could take back control. It comes at a hefty price. Credit:Getty Images Bond yields, which move down as investors bid up prices, were at or close to new lows around the world. A series of polls in Britain recently have shown the "leave" camp pulling ahead of the "remain" supporters, forcing investors and analysts to ponder the repercussions of an EU without the UK. "In the event, if the UK votes to leave, it seems the market is ready to sell everything," says Amplifying Global FX Capital's Gregg Gibbs.

"This may be a vast over-reaction. But who is to say that it will not be the bale of straw that collapses the back of a fragile global economy threatened by weak growth, excessive debt, and gripped by political instability." The Australian dollar, however, has proved resilient, climbing on Tuesday against all but the most traditional safe-haven currencies. In late local trade, the Aussie was buying US73.98¢, up on its level at the same time on Monday and compared with a low this year of US68.27¢. Its resistance comes despite investor flight to safe-haven assets such as bonds, gold, and the Japanese yen. The Australian currency is normally vulnerable in times of investor risk-aversion. The Japanese yen has been this week's big gainer, up about 1 per cent against the US dollar so far this week.

If the UK votes to leave, it seems the market is ready to sell everything. Gregg Gibbs Commonwealth Bank's chief currency strategist Richard Grace said on Tuesday that for now at least, global volatility was playing out in Australia only on the local stock market. "I think the currency markets knew Australian equity markets would open lower today after the public holiday and the declines in US and European equity markets on Friday and last night," he said. "Asian equity markets are also lower. But there has not been a major decline in commodity prices, or a major strengthening of the US dollar, or any fresh major information on Australia's economy, so the Aussie remains range-bound." Analysts have also ascribed the Aussie's relative strength to the fading chances of a US interest rate increase before September, against the Reserve Bank of Australia's reluctance to cut the cash rate again this year.

"As a result of the convergence of policy expectations, the currency pair is now at a mid-range level around US74¢," Lloyds Bank analysts wrote this week. "Recent Australian data have been strong, underpinning RBA governor [Glenn] Steven's more upbeat tone recently. "While inflation remains muted, and poses a risk of additional policy loosening from the RBA, we believe economic data will remain robust and forecast the Aussie to climb towards US77¢ by end-2016," the bank said. However, most say that all bets are off if Britain's residents on Thursday week actually vote to leave the EU. ​