The pound soared yesterday following signs the UK would stay in the European Union but a poll released today suggests the vote is still too close to call.

As the stock market bounced back more than £47 billion was also added to the value of the UK's biggest companies.

With just 48 hours to go before polls open, Labour will today kick off a two-day blitz focussed on jobs and the pound in voters' pockets.

Newly released figures suggest Scotland could lose 50,000 jobs by 2030 if the UK leaves the EU, but gain an extra 70,000 if it stays.

But the Leave campaign also published statistics it said showed that unskilled EU migrants cost UK taxpayers an average of £18 a head every month, and up to £45 a month in some areas.

The value of the pound and shares rose as the markets reacted to a series of polls, released over the weekend, suggesting Remain is ahead.

They followed a spate of surveys putting the Leave camp in the lead, triggering a panic saw billions wiped off the value of British firms.

The new combined telephone and internet NatCen poll has Remain on 53 per cent with Leave on 47 per cent.

The findings echo the result of a UK-wide BMG poll for The Herald on Saturday, which put Remain on 53.3 per cent and Leave on 46.7 per cent.

NatCen, who came close to correctly forecasting the outcome of last year's General Election, asked more than 1,600 UK adults between May 16 and June 12.

The organisation said the four-week timeframe allowed it to talk to a greater cross-section of the public and go back to hard-to-reach groups multiple times.

But it warned that the result suggested that the outcome was still on a knife-edge.

Prof John Curtice, from the University of Strathclyde and NatCen, said: "It is important to remember that the outcome looks so close that any lead should be treated with caution.”

Today (TUES) Gordon Brown, Jeremy Corbyn and other Labour figures will launch a 48-hour all out assault calling for a vote to Remain for “jobs and rights”, finishing in London on Wednesday just hours before polls open.

Mr Brown will address an audience in Glasgow today (TUES) while others including Harriet Harman, Ed Miliband and Neil Kinnock will campaign across the UK.

Today (TUES) the CBI highlights Treasury estimates that staying in the EU could create 70,800 future Scottish jobs.

Hugh Aitken, CBI Scotland director, said:“Virtually every economist agrees that leaving the EU would likely cause an economic shock, damaging Scotland’s prospects. We’d not only put a dent in what we have now, we’d also miss out on thousands of jobs in the near future, as a result of losing access to the Single Market, pulling the rug from under our local economy.

“This is why the majority of businesses want the UK to remain inside the EU, to best drive growth, support and create jobs, and increase prosperity for our region.”

New figures, also based on the Treasury analysis, suggest an EU exit would lead to a plunge in overseas investment, costing an estimated 48,230 jobs by 2030.

John Park, from the Community trade union, said access to the EU’s single market was "vital to attract overseas investment and create jobs in Scotland".

But Economists for Brexit said that unskilled EU migrants cost every UK taxpayer almost £18 a month, and up to £45 a month in some areas.

Overall the cost to the Uk economy was £6.6 billion a year, the group said.

Last night Mr Corbyn defended the free movement of workers within the EU, only a day after he infuriated some of his own MP by admitting that the Uk could not limit migrant numbers as long as it was a member of the EU.

The Labour leader appealed to undecided voters that he was not a "love of the EU" but said he believed the UK was better off in the organisation than outside it.

And he attacked company owners, including the Sport Direct boss and Rangers shareholder Mike Ashley, for what he said was the exploitation of migrant staff.

Earlier Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, has suggested there could be further reform of the EU as he issued a direct appeal to British voters to remain in the EU.

On a visit to Portugal he said that the EU would be "foolish" to ignore a warning signal from the UK, adding that "there are more signals of dissatisfaction with the Union coming from all of Europe, not only from the UK".

As business battled it out over the impact of the referendum, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England John Gieve warned leaving the EU would trigger a crisis, including a fall in the exchange rate.