Acting Spanish PM unhappy with David Cameron’s European Union referendum visit to Gibraltar

Speculation soon swirled over whether the assailant was referring to Britain First, a far-right, isolationist political party whose main goal is to curb immigration and multiculturalism in the U.K. Cox herself opposed the so-called Brexit-the referendum on whether the nation should leave the European Union -while Britain First supports leaving.

But then markets were shaken Thursday by the tragic murder of a pro-Europe lawmaker in Britain, with some traders signalling it could swing the upcoming referendum vote to remain in the EU. As well as delivering at least a short-term hit to the British economy and its trading partners, an “Out” vote in Thursday’s referendum would raise questions about the future of the European Union, which accounts for almost a quarter of global output.

“In the short-term, it is possible that some sectors in the US would gain, particularly in finance with NY and Wall Street gaining…a firmer foothold against London as the global financial capital”, writes Brookings’ Aaron Klein and D.J. Nordquist. Eight years after the worst of the financial crisis, global growth remains weak and is highly dependent on unprecedented stimulus from central banks which are running low on options for more support.

“Certainly people are talking about the possibility that this (incident) does influence the Brexit vote in favour of remain”.

The rival referendum campaign groups said they were suspending activities for the day, with the Remain camp saying its activities would also be suspended on Friday. Gerard Lyons, who has advised leading “Out” campaigner Boris Johnson, predicts a Nike swoosh-shaped path for Britain after a vote to leave – a short downturn followed by steady uptick – and says there are bigger problems worrying global markets.

After a tumultuous week, USA stocks were lower in afternoon NY trading, though MSCI’s all-country world stock index was up 0.4 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent to 2,077.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 percent at 4,844.92.

Oil prices extended recent losses to a sixth day, their longest slide since early January.

Brent crude futures were up $1.59 at $48.78 a barrel, while US crude rose $1.31 to $47.52.

Brent has lost about $US5 a barrel, or around 10 per cent, over the past six sessions.

The yen jumped to its strongest in almost two years versus the dollar after the Bank of Japan held off from further easing monetary policy.

European bourses rebounded 1.5 per cent after a third straight week of falls and bond markets saw benchmark 10-year German bond yields claw back up to the zero mark as risk appetite slowly began to return.

The Bank of Japan’s decision weighed on United States bond yields, which fell to their lowest in four years.

European banking stocks jumped more than 3 percent, having hit a four-year low – with all-time lows for banks including Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse – on Brexit worries and sub-zero interest rates, which are eating into earnings.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.