Shares and pound plunge on Leave vote
Shares and pound plunge on Leave vote
In the opening minutes of trade, the FTSE 100 index fell more than 500 points to 5,808.72.
Banks were especially hard hit, with Barclays and RBS falling about 30%.
Earlier, the value of the pound fell dramatically as the referendum outcome emerged. At one stage, it hit $1.3305, a fall of more than 10% and a low not seen since 1985.
The Bank of England said it was "monitoring developments closely" and would take "all necessary steps" to support monetary stability.
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"This is simply unprecedented, the pound has fallen off a cliff and the FTSE is now following suit," said Dennis de Jong, managing director of UFX.com.
"Britain's EU referendum has been a cloud hanging over the global economy for the past few months and that cloud has got very dark this morning.
"The markets despise uncertainty, yet that is exactly what they're faced with this morning. The shockwaves are likely to reverberate for some time and the warning lights are flashing brighter now than ever."
Oil prices have also fallen sharply in the wake of the referendum outcome, with Brent crude down 5.2%.
The price of Brent crude fell by $2.68 to $48.24 a barrel, its biggest fall since February. At the same time, US crude was down 5.4%, or $2.69, to $47.52 a barrel.
'Once-in-a-lifetime moves'
Before the results started to come in, the pound had risen as high as $1.50, as traders bet on a Remain victory.
But following early strong Leave votes in north-east England, it tumbled to $1.43 and then took another dive after 03:00 BST as Leave maintained its lead.
The move in sterling is the biggest one-day fall ever seen.
A weaker pound buys fewer dollars or other foreign currencies, which makes it more expensive to buy products from abroad. However, it should benefit exporters as it makes their goods cheaper abroad.
Against the euro, the pound dropped 7% to about €1.2085.
The euro also fell 3.3% against the dollar, its biggest one-day fall since the currency's inception.
In the opening minutes of trade, the FTSE 100 index fell more than 500 points to 5,808.72.
Banks were especially hard hit, with Barclays and RBS falling about 30%.
Earlier, the value of the pound fell dramatically as the referendum outcome emerged. At one stage, it hit $1.3305, a fall of more than 10% and a low not seen since 1985.
The Bank of England said it was "monitoring developments closely" and would take "all necessary steps" to support monetary stability.
How will Brexit affect your finances?
Ahmed: Market turmoil as UK chooses Brexit
What next for the world's central banks?
"This is simply unprecedented, the pound has fallen off a cliff and the FTSE is now following suit," said Dennis de Jong, managing director of UFX.com.
"Britain's EU referendum has been a cloud hanging over the global economy for the past few months and that cloud has got very dark this morning.
"The markets despise uncertainty, yet that is exactly what they're faced with this morning. The shockwaves are likely to reverberate for some time and the warning lights are flashing brighter now than ever."
Oil prices have also fallen sharply in the wake of the referendum outcome, with Brent crude down 5.2%.
The price of Brent crude fell by $2.68 to $48.24 a barrel, its biggest fall since February. At the same time, US crude was down 5.4%, or $2.69, to $47.52 a barrel.
'Once-in-a-lifetime moves'
Before the results started to come in, the pound had risen as high as $1.50, as traders bet on a Remain victory.
But following early strong Leave votes in north-east England, it tumbled to $1.43 and then took another dive after 03:00 BST as Leave maintained its lead.
The move in sterling is the biggest one-day fall ever seen.
A weaker pound buys fewer dollars or other foreign currencies, which makes it more expensive to buy products from abroad. However, it should benefit exporters as it makes their goods cheaper abroad.
Against the euro, the pound dropped 7% to about €1.2085.
The euro also fell 3.3% against the dollar, its biggest one-day fall since the currency's inception.
BBC