Dow Plunges More Than 600 Points on Brexit Vote, Estimated $2.1T in Losses
— -- The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 611 points, or 3.39 percent, as investors reacted strongly to news that the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. U.S. markets closed at three month lows.
Friday's sell-off marked the Dow's biggest drop in 10 months. All told, there were an estimated $2.1 trillion in losses across global markets today, according the S&P's Howard Silverblatt. There were an estimated $830 billion in losses estimated in U.S. markets today.
The Nasdaq dropped 202 points, or 4.12 percent, while the S&P 500 slid 76 points, or 3.6 percent.
U.S. crude fell 5 percent, or $2.47, to settle at $47.64, its largest one-day decline since February.
From Europe to Asia to the United States, financial markets showed panic over the so-called Brexit.
Europe
Britain’s FTSE 100, the country's blue chip stock index, plummeted as much as 8.7 percent before clawing back to a loss of 3.15 percent when the London stock exchange opened Friday after the vote to leave the 28-member bloc. The FTSE 250 plunged even further -- 12.3 percent -- before recovering slightly to 7.19 percent.
The referendum vote also prompted Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for the United Kingdom to remain in the EU, to announce his resignation.
On the currency front, the British pound sterling dropped to its weakest level in 31 years, plummeting more than 11 percent as investors fled risky assets for the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen.
The euro fell 2.28 percent against the dollar.
In stock markets across the English Channel, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 7.34 percent. France’s CAC index dropped to 8.6 percent. Germany’s DAX slid as much as 10 percent before recovering slightly to 7.04 percent. Spain’s IBEX 35 tanked to 12.39 percent.
Asia
The bloodbath was not contained to the U.S. and Europe.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw its worst day since March 2011. The Japanese stock index ended down 7.92 percent today.
On mainland China, the Shanghai composite slid 1.33 percent while the Shenzhen composite fell 0.76 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended down 2.92 percent. The offshore yuan, traded in Hong Kong, fell .71 percent against the dollar, while the onshore currency traded in Shanghai weakened 0.57 percent.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi tumbled 3.09 percent.
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