Britain’s future in the EU was on a knife edge on Friday morning after early referendum results favoured the Leave campaign, triggering a historic sell-off in sterling as markets confronted the possibility of a Brexit.
The pound set a record intraday swing of 7.5 per cent between its high and low points, while FTSE 100 futures slumped 6.1 per cent and US stock-index futures fell more than 2 per cent. Sterling touched a low of $1.3965, down as much as 5.7 per cent.
At 3am, the tally of the votes stood at exactly 50:50 with 125 voting areas declared out of 382. Scotland and London were voting heavily for Remain, but across rural England and in many towns, the Leave side dominated.