For all of those who have been madly typing “what is Brexit” into their Google search bars all day, here’s another wrench to throw into the mix: a possible market crisis.
As the UK watches the polls with bated breath to determine whether the country will remain in the European Union or whether they will break off from the politico-economic conglomerate, it seems as if the pound sterling might possibly incur the largest slump in British history.
It is expected that British markets will open at 8 a.m. down roughly 111 points, all apparently caused by Britain’s potential EU exit.
According to The Telegraph:
It is currently trading down more than 5.3pc as traders contemplate the likelihood of a Brexit victory.
That puts the pound on track for a greater fall than that of “Black Wednesday”, when the UK left the ERM in 1992. On that day, the pound dropped by just 4.1pc.
Sterling has now traded as low as $1.4055.
While news of the slump is somewhat alarming, it’s by no means an economic meltdown.
“We can expect to see these gyrations continue throughout the night as traders react to the referendum results as they come in,” said Joe Rundel, the financial company ETX Capital’s head of training, on the slump. “We’re not seeing a panic just yet but the complacency has definitely gone.”
As of now, the polls show that 47.3% of the vote wants to remain within the EU, and 52.7% wishes to leave, with 10.7% reporting.
Contact the author at jamie.reich@jezebel.com.
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