Oil prices and stock markets fall after Brexit vote

Oil prices fell dramatically and stock values plunged as instability hit world markets following Britain’s historic referendum result which will see the country leave the European Union, AlKhaleejonline.com reported on Friday.

Stock markets have been unstable for months during the British campaigning for the referendum, in which the Leave camp beat Remain by a narrow but clear margin. There were fears that the vote would affect the stability of the whole continent, but the markets were not fully factoring in the risk of a “Leave” result.

According to ICE Futures Europe, oil prices settled down 4.9 per cent at $47.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling as low as $46.70 a barrel in overnight trading. It also said that Brent, the global benchmark, had traded as low as $47.54 a barrel but also settled down 4.9 per cent at $48.41 a barrel. ICE said that these were the biggest one-day percentage declines since February.

Meanwhile, Sky News said that the US dollar had dropped below the threshold of 100 Yin for the first time since November 2013, while the British pound collapsed to its lowest level since 1985.