http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/24/ftse...uro-dollar-plummets-gold-spike-oil-price.html
European stocks came off their session lows on Friday after plummeting at the open on the news that the U.K. had
voted to leave the European Union (EU).
The pan-European
STOXX 600 was down 6.3 percent in afternoon trade, paring some earlier losses.
London's
FTSE 100 was off 2.4 percent and the French
CAC traded around 7.1 percent lower. Germany's
DAX index tanked as much as 10 percent before paring losses, to trade around 6.2 percent down in the afternoon.
The unexpected result of the referendum sent
sterling into freefall, hitting its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 in the early hours of Friday morning at around $1.341. It last traded at around $1.372.
"What we're seeing now is the market reacting with complete shock and bewilderment as the results unfold. Volumes are thin but we're seeing unprecedented moves in the financial markets," Trevor Charsley, senior advisory at AFEX, a foreign exchange company, said in a note on Friday.
Bank stocks were hardest hit, with the U.K.'s
Barclays and the
Royal Bank of Scotland as much as 20 percent lower in early trade.
Crude oil prices tanked, while
gold, a so-called safe-haven asset, spiked 5.5 percent.
This helped stocks of precious metals miners
Randgold Resources and
Fresnillo surge to the top of the FTSE 100.
Outside of Europe, the U.S.
Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 400 points at the open, before paring some losses to trade 2.9 percent lower. The
S&P 500 traded 2.6 percent lower.
Asian stocks also slumped, with the Japanese benchmark
Nikkei 225tumbling to close 7.9 percent lower.
Central bankers stepped in to try and soothe the markets. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Friday morning that the central bank would take additional measures to support U.K. banks and the broader economy if necessary.
The European Central Bank (ECB) said it was closely monitoring financial markets and was "ready to provide additional liquidity, if needed, in
euro and foreign currencies".
Banks hammered
Banks and financial services firms took a beating.
Shares of U.K. banking giants
RBS,
Barclaysand
Lloyds Banking Groupsunk by as much as 18 percent, 19 percent and 22 percent respectively, sharply underperforming the
FTSE 100.
European banks headquartered outside of the U.K. also fell steeply. Shares of Greek and Italian banks, which were already under pressure because of concerns about their bad debt piles, were notably poor performers.
Shares of
Alpha Bank and
Eurobank Ergasias fell by 29 percent and 30 percent respectively, while Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo declined by up to 19 percent.
Shares of French and German banks also tumbled, with
Deutsche Banktrading 13 percent lower on Friday.
"I'm afraid that this is not such a good day for Europe," Deutsche Co-CEO John Cryan said in a statement on the bank's website on Friday.
"At this stage, we cannot fully foresee the consequences, but there's no doubt that they will be negative on all sides," he added.
Asset managers also felt the heat.
Aberdeen Asset Management and
Schroders were down by as much as 20 percent before paring losses.
Retailers, travel stocks slump
British retailers were hit, likely due to fears of the effect the vote could have on consumer confidence and spending. Stocks like
Next and
Marks & Spencer plummeted.
Travel and leisure stocks were also under pressure. Shares of budget airline
EasyJet were down as much as 18 percent.
Housebuilders felt the heat, due to uncertainty over investment in the U.K. post-Brexit.
Taylor Wimpey and
Persimmon were at the bottom of the FTSE 100, trading around 26 percent lower.
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I think you should all wonder about your pensions.... banks hammered.. absolutely hammered today.
