Stock futures drop after Britons vote to abandon EU

[June 24, 2016]  By Tanya Agrawal and Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - U.S. stock futures slid in premarket trading on Friday after Britain's vote to quit the European Union delivered the biggest blow to the global financial system since the 2008 financial crisis.

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were down about 3.5 percent while those on the Dow Jones industrial average were off 2.8 percent, indicating Wall Street will open sharply lower.

By 8 a.m. ET (1200 GMT), the number of contracts traded on S&P futures had neared their daily average for the past year.

Investors worried about damage to the world economy sought refuge in the dollar and other safe-harbor assets such as gold and U.S. Treasury bonds, while dumping riskier shares. The yield on the U.S. 10-year bond hit its lowest since 2012.

Banks were among the biggest losers.

Britain's FTSE 100 stock index was down 4.5 percent in early afternoon trading. Asian stocks also tumbled.

Amid the turmoil, sterling hit a 31-year low in its biggest intraday percentage fall on record and Prime Minister David Cameron said he would step down by October.

"The markets are going to trade violently and erratically through the day and it's going to be a challenging equity environment until investors get greater clarity on the matter," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs slumped by between 6.2 percent and 7.2 percent. U.S. banks have large operations in London.

Trading in S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures was halted briefly overnight after they fell more than 5 percent, triggering limit thresholds.

U.S. short-term interest rate futures rose amid speculation the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates to help shield the economy from any global fallout.

Investors have been waiting for the Fed to raise borrowing costs as the economy improves.

"It's too early to assess whether we will have a negative interest rate environment. However, given the knee-jerk global response in the markets, it would seem that low interest rates are here to stay," said Bakhos.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said earlier in the week that an exit of Britain from the EU would have "significant repercussions" on the U.S. economic outlook.

A trader from BGC in London's Canary Wharf after Britain voted to leave the European Union. REUTERS/Russell Boyce

Futures on the VIX volatility index - known as Wall Street's fear gauge - surged 42.3 percent to 24.52, above its long-term average of 20.

The market was already expected to be volatile on Friday as traders adjust portfolios to account for an annual reconstitution of the widely followed Russell stock indexes.

Oil prices also slumped, dropping about 5 percent, the biggest drop since early February. [O/R] Exxon and Chevron were down about 3 percent each.

Among gold miners, Barrick Gold  was up 9.3 percent and Newmont Mining  was up 8 percent.

Apple, which got more than a fifth of its revenue from Europe last quarter, was down 2.7 percent at $93.48. Facebook  was down 3.4 percent at $111.19

U.S. stocks had risen in recent sessions as investors bet that Britain would remain part of the EU.

As of Thursday's close, the S&P 500 index had risen 3 percent since the start of the year.

Futures snapshot at 8:10 a.m. ET (1210 GMT):

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 73.25 points, or 3.48 percent, with 1,612,911 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 158.5 points, or 3.55 percent, on volume of 156,665 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were down 504 points, or 2.81 percent, with 207,671 contracts changing hands.

(Additional reporting by Noel Randewich, Richard Leong and Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Alison Williams and Ted Kerr)

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