Scottish nationalist leader Alex Salmond’s bid for independence lost ground in an opinion poll little more than a week before a referendum that could lead to the breakup of the U.K.

The poll by Survation for the Daily Record newspaper in Glasgow put the No lead at six percentage points when excluding undecided voters, with 47 percent support for the Yes campaign and 53 percent opposed to independence. The results follow a survey by YouGov Plc last weekend that put the Yes side ahead for the first time, a swing that sent the pound tumbling.

The latest poll may offer encouragement to the emergency trips made to Scotland today by Prime Minister David Cameron and fellow U.K. party leaders to urge Scots to back away from independence in the Sept. 18 referendum.

“You’ve heard a lot of what I call arguments of the head, but it’s also important we make arguments of the heart,” Cameron told workers at Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY)’s Scottish Widows unit. “I would be heartbroken if this family of nations was torn apart. Don’t for one second think the rest of the U.K. is indifferent. These islands are our home. It’s our country that we love. The rest of the U.K. is watching, listening, holding our breath.”

David Fuller's view

This helped to calm markets from Europe to the USA today.  Asia Pacific stock markets were weaker.