Brits vote for historic Brexit in referendum

Milly Vincent
·1-min read
A protestor in 2019 as the UK prepared to leave the EU.
A protestor in 2019 as the UK prepared to leave the EU.

THIS week eight years ago the UK officially voted to leave the European Union — here's how the markets reacted.

Follwing the result on Friday June 2016, the pound crashed to its lowest level in 30 years as Britain headed for the European Union exit door.

Our report on the day read: "Sterling plunged 10 per cent against the dollar overnight to 1.33 US dollars, a low not seen since 1985, as the Leave campaign clinched victory. The fall, which settled at 9.2 per cent in afternoon trading, represents one of the biggest daily falls on record for a major currency.

"The pound clawed back some of the losses by the afternoon, hitting 1.36 US dollars.

"Sterling had hit 1.50 dollars shortly after polls closed at 10pm on Thursday, but as Leave votes flooded in in increasing numbers, the strength of the pound plummeted."

Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital, described the win for Leave as "one of the biggest market shocks of all time".

Speaking in 2016, he said: "The pound has collapsed to its lowest level in over 30 years, suffering its biggest one-day fall in living memory. Panic may not be too strong a word - the pound could have further to go over the next couple of days as markets digest the news."

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