Sterling plummets as results point to victory for Brexit campaigners

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 570 points, or 3.2 percent, to 17,441 as of 2:43 p.m. It fell almost 2 percent against the franc, before recovering to trade just 0.7 percent lower at 1.0830 francs.

“In a low-growth environment, uncertainty or increased concerns really do create tremendous volatility”, U.S. Bank Wealth Management’s Wiegand said.

Bond prices rose sharply. Spot gold rose almost 4 percent and the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to a low of 1.406 percent, last seen in 2012, though it climbed higher in afternoon trading.

The vote will start years of negotiations over Britain’s trade, business and political links.

Whoever succeeds Cameron as prime minister will also face demands to make good on other pledges. Brent crude, the benchmark for global oil prices, rose 82 cents to $51.42 a barrel in London.

VOTE: Investors are awaiting the outcome of the referendum on Britain’s membership in the EU.

London’s FTSE 100 exchange nose-dived in the first minutes of trading and then clawed back some ground.

EUROPEAN STOCKS: European stocks also tumbled, although indexes on the European continent took larger losses than British ones.

The Bank of England – the U.K.’s central bank – said it was monitoring developments closely and “has undertaken extensive contingency planning”.

HIGH-DIVIDEND STOCKS: Stocks that are similar to bonds also did well. “This is a high magnitude event for financial markets”. Microsoft fell $1.94, or 3.7 percent, to $49.97 and IBM gave up $7.29, or 4.7 percent, to $148.06.

After rallying above $1.50 at the time voting ended, the pound steadily crumbled to its lowest level since 1985, at $1.3229 at one point, before unwinding some losses. “If David Cameron can remain as Prime Minister for the next few months then he will push for a trigger of article 50, which will start the process of leaving the European Union immediately”. But even as he gave a timetable for his own exit by the fall, he sought to offer immediate reassurances to anxious markets, calling Britain’s economy “fundamentally sound” and saying there would be no immediate changes in the status of immigrants in the country.

Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, also moved quickly to assure investors. He said the bank will take all necessary steps to maintain financial stability. Carney added that British banks have been stress-tested “against scenarios more severe than the country now faces”.

On Wall Street, stock market futures early Friday morning pointed to losses of about 3 percent or more for the major US indexes.

In Asia, stocks suffered across-the-board losses.

The dollar dropped to as low as 103.01 yen JPY=, pulling well away from an early high of 106.875.

Angus Nicholson, a Sydney-based market analyst for IG.com, summed up the historic ramifications of the vote as changing “the calculus of global markets”.

In contrast to the clamoring of European Union officials, the leaders of Britain’s “leave” campaign, who had reassured voters that the European Union would offer Britain good terms for a new relationship, were largely silent Saturday. The price of silver climbed 42 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $17.77 an ounce. Benchmark U.S. crude lost $2.34, or 4.7 percent, to $47.77 a barrel in NY. “In the face of political instability and economic uncertainty, the British leadership must also figure out how to reunite society to avoid adding social unrest to the list of challenges the United Kingdom faces”.

World stock markets – including Wall Street – were caught off guard with the “yes” vote on Brexit, causing an immediate meltdown, with stocks plummeting throughout Europe. Neither will the euro.

The U.K. imports about 9 in 10 vehicles sold there, including 8 of 10 from European Union members. The Federal Reserve had cited the impending Brexit vote as a reason to delay any further increase in US interest rates.