SEOUL - World financial markets were rocked on Friday by Britain's vote to leave the European Union, with stock markets and oil prices crashing and the pound hitting its lowest level in three decades.
The uncharted, unexpected path of a European Union without Britain sparked the sell-offs, with more jitters expected as global markets try to digest the shock result.
Tokyo stocks plummeted nearly 8%, their biggest fall since 2008, while South Korea's Kospi tumbled about 3%.
Crude oil prices and US futures also took a big hit, and the British pound plummeted more than 10% in six hours while the yen surged about 3% to the US dollar as investors seeking safety snapped up the Japanese currency.
By early afternoon in Asia, a tally by the BBC showed Britain had voted to leave the 28-nation European Union by about a 52% to 48% margin.
Japan's Nikkei 225 plummeted 7.6% to 15,002.84 while South Korea's Kospi sank 3.8% to 1,911.13. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 4.7% to 19,894.12 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 3.6% to 5,093.40. Stocks in Shanghai, Taiwan, Sydney and Southeast Asian countries were sharply lower.
On Thursday, Wall Street finished with rallies as pre-poll forecasts showed that Britain would keep the EU membership. Asian stock markets opened the day higher but the mood turned sour as results started to show that the Leave vote would win. As the results increasingly pointed to the EU exit, investors shunned stocks and other risky assets.
US futures took a dive. Dow futures fell 3.9% and S&P futures nosedived 5.1%.
The results sent the pound on a wild ride. It rose to its highest point for the year of $1.50 before tumbling more than 10% to a low of $1.3303, its lowest level in 31 years.
In other currencies, the dollar fell to ¥101.32 from ¥104.80 while the euro weakened to $1.098 from $1.132.
Benchmark US crude plummeted 6.2%, or $3.12, to $47.03 per barrel in New York. Brent Crude, the benchmark for international oil price, fell 5.8%, or $2.97, to $47.94 per barrel in London.