Global markets crashed after Britain voted for Brexit

Carnage took hold of global markets after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

The pound is dropping like a stone. At the European close at 4:30 p.m. BST (11:30 a.m. ET) it was off about 8.45% against the dollar in the biggest intraday fall of any major currency in decades.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei slid by as much as 7.9% to 14,952 points, its lowest level since February.

Europe's stock markets opened at 8 a.m. UK time (3 a.m. ET), and as expected it was a bloodbath.

European stocks crashed lower in a straight line at the open, and there were fears that falls were so big that the London Stock Exchange would halt trading as automatic circuit breakers were triggered by huge drops in stocks.

Friday's crash was even bigger than "Black Monday," when markets across the globe crashed in the late-1980s. Stocks recovered a little after the initial shock of Brexit, but many indexes still saw enormous losses. Below is a look at the way stocks and other assets performed the day after Britain's historic vote.

The FTSE 100 opened down by about 9% but recovered to the close to end trading down just over 3%, thanks largely to the high number of companies in the index which denominate their assets in dollars. These companies benefit from a stronger dollar and a weaker pound. The FTSE actually ended the week at a higher level than it did last week:

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The worst hit companies in the UK were housebuilders, with Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, and Barratt Developments all losing 20% or more in trading. Banking stocks also crashed.

The picture on continental Europe was substantially worse. Here is Germany's DAX:

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France's CAC was off just shy of 8%:

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The Euro Stoxx 50 broad index was more than 8% lower also:

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US stocks, which opened around two hours ago, also suffered. Here is the S&P 500:

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Elsewhere in the markets, German bond yields plunged even further into negative territory as investors took flight to safe-haven assets:

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That flight also gave gold a massive boost on the day:

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See Also:

• The FTSE 100 closed at its highest level in 10 months

• UBS: Here's how to escape the pain of Brexit

• The FTSE 100 just erased all of its post-Brexit losses

SEE ALSO: BANK OF ENGLAND: 'ALL NECESSARY STEPS'

DON'T MISS: Britain's banking stocks crashed by as much as 30%