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Global stocks plunge as UK votes for Brexit Global stocks plunge as UK votes for Brexit
(35 minutes later)
Stock markets from Tokyo to London collapsed on Friday as Britons voted to leave the European Union. Panicked investors dumped risky assets that had built up ahead of the referendum, which many assumed would have the opposite effect.Stock markets from Tokyo to London collapsed on Friday as Britons voted to leave the European Union. Panicked investors dumped risky assets that had built up ahead of the referendum, which many assumed would have the opposite effect.
The British pound plunged 10 percent, the most since 1985, the euro fell the furthest since its introduction in 1999, while the Japanese yen had its biggest surge since 1998.The British pound plunged 10 percent, the most since 1985, the euro fell the furthest since its introduction in 1999, while the Japanese yen had its biggest surge since 1998.
Asian stocks dropped the most in five years. Japan's Nikkei index closed almost eight percent in the red. China's Shanghai composite was down over one percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was losing over four percent before the closing bell.Futures on the FTSE 100 Index plunged before the start of trade in London. US S&P 500 Index contracts are deep in the red. Traders say currency moves are more extreme than during the 2008 financial crisis.
“Investors are just trying to get out. You sell first and ask questions later. There was a massive miscalculation of risk and now you're seeing all that unwind,” head of investment strategy at Perpetual Ltd. in Sydney, Matthew Sherwood, told Bloomberg.Oil fell below $48 per barrel. Gold soared along with US Treasuries as panicked investors sought safe haven from the markets. Price of the precious metal, a traditional refuge from volatile markets, jumped almost five percent to over $1,300 per ounce.“All hell is breaking loose,” Bloomberg quotes Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist in Singapore at Mizuho Bank Ltd as saying. “The only sure [thing] is you buy yen, you buy US Treasuries, you buy gold, you sit tight.”An appetite for riskier assets on the market has built up as polls suggested that the chance of Britain's exit from the EU was unlikely. Oddsmakers had put the chances of Brexit at one in four.Global central banks, government officials and financial experts had warned that Brexit would lead to market volatility. "Never seen anything like it. These are once-in-a-lifetime moves, bigger than Lehmans and Black Wednesday, and we haven't even had the result yet," Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital was cited as saying by BBC.
"We're waiting for the big money to crank into action over the coming days and even weeks, which will likely exert further downward pressure on sterling," he added.
The FTSE 100 Index plunged over seven percent at the start of trade in London. Germany's DAX is losing over six percent. US S&P 500 Index futures contracts are deep in the red.
Asian stocks dropped the most in five years. Japan's Nikkei index closed almost eight percent in the red. China's Shanghai composite was down over one percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was losing over four percent before the closing bell.
“Investors are just trying to get out. You sell first and ask questions later. There was a massive miscalculation of risk and now you're seeing all that unwind,” head of investment strategy at Perpetual Ltd. in Sydney, Matthew Sherwood, told Bloomberg.
Oil fell below $48 per barrel. Gold soared along with US Treasuries as panicked investors sought safe haven from the markets. Price of the precious metal, a traditional refuge from volatile markets, jumped almost five percent to over $1,300 per ounce.“All hell is breaking loose,” Bloomberg quotes Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist in Singapore at Mizuho Bank Ltd as saying. “The only sure [thing] is you buy yen, you buy US Treasuries, you buy gold, you sit tight.”An appetite for riskier assets on the market has built up as polls suggested that the chance of Britain's exit from the EU was unlikely. Oddsmakers had put the chances of Brexit at one in four.Global central banks, government officials and financial experts had warned that Brexit would lead to market volatility.