Traders around the globe are beginning to rest a little bit easier, in the knowledge that the heights of this summer's earnings announcements are now behind them.

In Scotland, it was the last chance for major businesses to issue a statement about their current situation before the future of the country is decided on September 18. That has only heightened their significance: Scotland will be more reliant on its biggest brands if it wants to succeed outside of the United Kingdom.

It also presents a chance to measure the markets' sentiment on Scottish Independence, by taking a look at the reaction that traders had to major announcements from the likes of RBS, Standard Life and Aggreko.

So how did Scottish businesses compare to those south of the border and across the pond? Overall, the picture from the US was of a broadly positive set of earnings announcements, whilst England had more of a mixed bag.

One sector to buck that trend was banking, as major British banks issued a set of strong reports. Barclays, Lloyds and RBS all surprised the markets by beating predicted profit and income. That run of good results was supposed to arrive over a three day period from July 30-August 1, but RBS chose to surprise the markets with a week-early announcement of £1.6 billion pre-tax profit.

Despite some words of warning from CEO Ross McEwan, traders leapt on the news to send RBS shares soaring to a peak of 375p, up over 13% from the previous day. Unfortunately, the debate over independence threatened to overwhelm the release of their full figures a week later, as the report contained comments on the possible negative impact of independence on the business.

That has dampened RBS' success somewhat; the company is currently trading at around 340p, still higher than in July but well off that 375p peak and on an apparent downward trajectory. Brokers seem to be wary about the stock: four view it as a buy, but 11 recommend a sell.

Over in savings and investments, Standard Life also had a good earnings call, reporting a 12% growth in profits. But, in a similar story to RBS, they too warned that independence posed a threat to their business (after previously warning that they may move south of the border in such an eventuality). Standard Life's share price rallied around 2% after the earnings were released, but it did little to reverse the stock's downward trend, down from 380p in late July to 360p in August.

Away from financials, power supplier Aggreko is also on a downtrend despite a better-than-expected earnings call. To blame independence uncertainty for their performance would probably be disingenuous however, as Aggreko's problems are more to do with the issue of a strong pound (a swing towards independence could well weaken the pound and benefit Aggreko, adversely).

AG Barr have produced sustained growth after a positive call in July, up 7% by the end of the month as the markets responded well to good sales and prospects for a company that does well out of a patriotic, Scottish image.

Are the markets correct to be wary about independence at all? IG's binary market, which allows traders to take a position on the outcome of major political and economic events, suggests that our customers predict a 15% likelihood of a win for the Yes campaign.

Furthermore, the increasing clamour surrounding the UK's place in the European Union after the next general election appears to be far more disquieting for UK business as a whole.

Wary they are though; stock for all Scottish parties mentioned above fell in value overnight as Alex Salmond discussed independence and the pound with Alistair Darling last week. And the uncertainty in British business looks likely to continue after September 18.

If Britain's economic recovery continues to be overshadowed by political fracturing, the return to growth seen in US and German indices may elude us. The markets, it seems, may be more receptive to revelations from the political sphere than many may believe

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Patrick Foot is a financial markets writer for IG.