Asia markets swing wildly as Brexit results roll in

Asia markets swing wildly as Brexit results roll in

HONG KONG - Asian forex and equity markets swung wildly Friday as results in Britain's EU referendum showed the knife-edge vote far too close to call, while bookmakers made the chances of an exit odds-on.

Asian stocks moved wildly on June 24, 2016, with Tokyo plunging to almost 3% down from being almost 1% up

While opinion polls had put the two sides neck and neck, markets worldwide rallied in the past week as a general consensus emerged that the country would vote to remain.

However, a series of victories with wide margins for the anti-EU group has fuelled worries that the country could break away.

Sterling, which had touched a 2016 high of $1.50 in early morning trade, slumped below $1.40 briefly as a string of results come in favour of the leavers.

A flight to lower-yielding, safer investments also saw the dollar fall to about 103.60 yen from around 106.80 yen earlier.

"After the early confidence, we could be getting a dose of realism that's causing some reasonably skittish market movements," Jeremy Stretch, head of foreign exchange strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in London, told Bloomberg News.

"It does look like the margin between the two sides is going to be relatively tight, and accordingly sterling volatility is going to remain elevated until we get a more definitive picture."

By 0230 GMT the "leave" campaign was in front by a little more than 1%.

- Crazy betting -

Highlighting the volatility across all markets, betting giant Ladbrokes tweeted: "Without doubt the craziest, fastest moving political betting market in recent history."

Stocks were also shifting wildly but all were lower. Tokyo was more than three% down by the break, having been almost 1% up at one point.

Hong Kong shed nearly 2% and Sydney fell 2.1%. Shanghai slipped 0.5%, Singapore lost 0.7% and Wellington 0.7%, while Seoul was off 1.2%.

With many financial groups believed to have conducted their own exit polls, there is a worry among traders that the fall in the pound could indicate Britain is on its way out of the economic bloc.

There are fears that a British decision to break away from the union would precipitate a rout across global stock markets that could wipe trillions off valuations and even lead to a worldwide recession.

Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA Asia Pacific, said in a note: "While today's market levels going into voting have surprised on the top side of (the pound-dollar) and (dollar-yen), we should be very cognisant that much of the activity has occurred in gaunt markets.

"For the most part, trading has been periodic amid dwindling liquidity. We should expect a high level of volatility, bordering on excessive at times, as results hit the wires."

- Key figures around 0230 GMT -

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.4075 from $1.4974 late Wednesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1189 from $1.1422

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 104.12 yen from 106.53 yen

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 3.1% at 15,742.40 (break)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.5% at 2,877.88

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.9% at 20,464.26

New York - DOW: UP 1.3% at 18,011.07 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.2% at 6,338.10 (close)

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