Global stocks tumble after Britain votes to leave EU

Global stock markets lost about $2 trillion in value on Friday after Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU), while sterling suffered a record one-day plunge to a 31-year low and money poured into safe-haven gold and government bonds.

The blow to investor confidence and the uncertainty the vote has sparked could keep the US Federal Reserve from raising interest rates as planned this year, and even spark a new round of emergency policy easing from major central banks.

The move blindsided investors, who had expected Britain to vote to stay in the EU, and sparked sharp repricing across asset classes. Mainland European equity markets took the brunt of selling as investors feared the vote could destabilize the 28-member bloc by prompting more referendums. 

The traditional safe-harbour assets of top-rated government debt, the Japanese yen and gold all jumped. Spot gold rose over 4% and the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note fell to a low of 1.406%, last seen in 2012, but climbed higher in afternoon trading. 

Stocks tumbled in Europe. Frankfurt and Paris each fell 7% to 8%. Italian and Spanish markets posted their sharpest one-day drops ever, falling more than 12% led by a dive in European bank stocks. Italy's Unicredit fell 24% while Spain's Banco Santander fell 20%. 

London's FTSE, however, dropped 3.2%, with some investors speculating that the plunge in sterling could benefit Britain's economy.

"Big institutional customers saw this morning's event as a much more longer-term opportunity. So names that were really dislocated found plenty of bids, plenty of support," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York.

Still, Britain's big banks took a $100 billion battering, with Lloyds, Barclays and RBS plunging as much as 30%, although they cut those losses in half later in the day.

Stocks on Wall Street traded down around 3%, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping as much as 544 points.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 520.19 points, or 2.89%, to 17,490.88. The S&P 500 slid 65.75 points, or 3.11%, to 2,047.57 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 182.46 points, or 3.72%, to 4,727.58.

MSCI's all-country world stock index fell 4.4%.

Voting results showed a 51.9/48.1% split for leaving, setting the UK on an uncertain path and dealing the largest setback to European efforts to forge greater unity since World War Two.

The British pound dived by 18 US cents at one point, easily the biggest fall in living memory, to its lowest since 1985. The euro slid 3% to $1.1050 as investors feared for its very future.

Sterling was last down 7.4% at $1.3775, having carved out a range of $1.3228 to $1.5022. The fall was even larger than during the global financial crisis and the currency was moving two or three cents in the blink of an eye.

The Bank of England (BoE), European Central Bank (ECB) and the People's Bank of China all said they were ready to provide liquidity if needed to ensure global market stability.

Shockwaves

The shockwaves affected all asset classes and regions.

The safe-haven yen jumped 3.9% to 102.21 per dollar, having been as low as 106.81. The dollar's peak decline of 4% was the largest since 1998.

Emerging market currencies across Asia and eastern Europe and South Africa's rand all buckled on fears that investors could pull out. Poland's zloty slumped 4%.

Europe's safety play, the 10-year German government bond, surged with yields tumbling back into negative territory and a new record low. 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid almost 3.3%. Tokyo's Nikkei saw its worst fall since 2011, down 7.9%.

Investors stampeded into low-risk sovereign bonds, with US 10-year notes gained around 1.5 points in price to yield 1.570%. Earlier, the yield dipped to 1.406%.

The rally even extended to UK bonds, despite a warning from ratings agency Standard & Poor's that it was likely to downgrade Britain's triple-A credit rating if it left the EU. Yields on benchmark 10-year gilts fell 27 basis points to 1.096%.

Across the Atlantic, investors were pricing in less chance of another hike in US interest rates given the US Federal Reserve had cited a Britain exit from the EU as one reason to be cautious on tightening.

"A July (hike) is definitely off the table," said Mike Baele, managing director with the private client reserve group at US Bank in Portland, Oregon.

Fed funds futures were even toying with the chance that the next move could be a cut in US rates.

Oil prices slumped by more than 4% amid fears of a broader economic slowdown that could reduce demand. The US crude shed $2.36 to $47.77 a barrel while Brent fell 4.7% to $48.50 before.

Industrial metal copper sank 2.1% but gold galloped nearly 5% higher thanks to its perceived safe haven status.