Markets continue to crash, pound slumps, firms reel

This was despite attempts by Chancellor George Osborne to halt the crash and ease the political and economic turmoil unleashed by the decision to leave the EU.

Mr Osborne claimed the British economy is strong enough to cope with the volatility caused by Thursday’s referendum, but sterling fell to a low of $1.3151, before rallying back slightly to a 3.4 per cent fall to $1.321. This follows a nine per cent fall on Friday.

Chris Saint, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Currency, said: “It’s a sea of red for sterling again as investor sentiment continues to sour after the UK’s vote to leave the EU.”

More than £40bn was wiped off the value of Britain’s biggest companies. This followed a £45bn crash on Friday.

The FTSE 100 Index plunged back below the 6,000 mark, slipping 2.6 per cent to 5,982.2, despite Mr Osborne offering his assurances that the UK is “about as strong as it could be to confront the challenge our country now faces”.

Yorkshire’s biggest firms took another battering.

Shares in Yorkshire’s biggest PLC, York-based housebuilder Persimmon, tumbled 14 per cent to close down 210p at 1,310p. This followed a 28 per cent decline on Friday as analysts warned that the housing market will be hit hard by the Brexit decision.

Chris Schutrups, managing director of The Mortgage Hut warned that housebuilders are also facing a shortage of skilled foreign workers following the vote.

Jonathan Hopper, managing director of the buying agents Garrington Property Finders, said: “Without renewed stimulus, Britain’s property market faces a hard reset and a Darwinian future of victims, survivors and predators.”

A recent entrant to the FTSE 100, Bradford-based credit lender Provident Financial saw its shares tumble 12 per cent to close down 287p at 2,164p. This followed an 16 per cent fall on Friday.

Leeds-based International Personal Finance, another credit lender and a top-10 Yorkshire PLC, saw its shares fall 10 per cent to close down 26p at 231p. This followed a 13 per cent rumble on Friday.

Analyst Daoud Fakhri at Verdict Financial said: “Demand for home finance will inevitably be dented, as consumers react to the uncertainty generated by the vote by postponing major spending decisions.”

Shares in Bradford-based supermarket chain Morrisons fell five per cent, down 8p to 17.5p after analysts said an impending recession will hit consumer spending.

British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson said a prolonged fall in the value of the pound will affect import costs and ultimately consumer prices. Morrisons’ fall follows a four per cent decline on Friday.

UK banks also took another big hit.

Royal Bank of Scotland briefly plunged to its lowest level since 2009, before finishing more than 15 per cent down at 174.3p.

RBS, which is 73 per cent owned by the taxpayer, and Barclays saw their shares suspended for five minutes as automatic circuit breakers sprung into action when they dropped more than 8 per cent. Shares in Barclays finished 17 per cent lower at 26.7p.

Lloyds, which owns the Halifax, lost 10 per cent to close at 51p.

Experts said that Lloyds Banking Group, which owns the Halifax, and Royal Bank of Scotland could remain part-owned by the taxpayer for years to come after the stock market chaos caused by Brexit.

Away from the top tier, the FTSE 250, which is seen as a better barometer of UK business than the FTSE 100, slumped nearly 7 per cent to 14,967.86.

Elland-based landscape products firm Marshalls saw its shares tumble 16 per cent to 213p and Sheffield-based insulation firm SIG saw 13 per cent wiped off its shares to close at 105p. Both were hit by the ramifications for the housing market

Shares in easyJet fell 22 per cent after the firm said it will take a £28m hit following two months of turbulence and warned that Brexit would have a negative impact on the airline.

It flagged strikes in France in May and June and severe weather and congestion issues at Gatwick leading to more than a thousand cancellations, with the EgyptAir tragedy also denting demand.

Meanwhile, shares in Foxtons crashed 22 per cent after the estate agent issued a Brexit profit warning.

The estate agency took a tumble after it said the upturn it had expected in the second half of the year is “now unlikely to materialise”, adding that annual earnings will be “significantly lower” than in 2015.

Chief executive Nic Budden said: “Whilst we had a strong start to the year, we said in our first quarter update that we expected the first half to be challenging ahead of the EU referendum.

“Since then recent sales volumes have been slow as uncertainty and higher stamp duty has led many buyers and sellers to sit on their hands. The result of the referendum has increased uncertainty and is likely to mean that these trends continue for at least the remainder of the year.”