BEIJING — Global stock and currency markets could face more volatility Monday as investors continue to digest the implications of Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union.
On Friday, the British pound registered its biggest one-day drop in history, and world stocks saw more than $2 trillion wiped off their value, amid fears the British vote in favor of what is known as ‘‘Brexit’’ could plunge the globe back into recession.
Central bank chiefs and policy makers around the world tried to calm the jitters, but there remains a distinct possibility that more selling pressure will emerge this week as the shock continues to sink in.
On Sunday, Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said the vote ‘‘will cast a shadow over the global economy.’’
‘‘It’s difficult to predict now,’’ he said at the first annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing. ‘‘The knee-jerk reaction from the market is probably a bit excessive and needs to calm down and take an objective view.’’
The pound fell as much as 10 percent on Friday to its lowest level against the dollar in three decades, with ratings agencies warning that Britain’s credit rating could suffer and investors worried that Brexit could undermine London’s role as a global financial center. London’s main stock market index plunged nearly 9 percent in early trade on Friday, before recovering to end 3.15 percent lower.
The shock waves reverberated all around the globe.
In Japan, futures trading in the Nikkei index was temporarily halted as the referendum results trickled in and investors rushed for the exit. The market closed 8 percent down. European markets fell 7 percent on average, their biggest one-day fall since 2008, with France and Germany not escaping the carnage.
In the United States, stock markets suffered their largest selloff in 10 months. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 3.4 percent. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed down 3.6 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index ended more than 4 percent lower.
Investors flocked to the safe haven of gold, which recorded its biggest daily price gain since the 2008 global financial crisis, rising 5.0 percent Friday to $1,315 an ounce, a two-year high.
Britain faces months of political uncertainty after Prime Minister David Cameron, who had called the referendum but campaigned for Britain to stay in the E.U., pledged to step down in October. Opposition lawmakers from the Labour Party attempted to unseat their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, for failing to mount an effective campaign for Britain to stay in the E.U., while more than 3 million Britons signed a petition calling for a second referendum.
Adding to the uncertainty, an opinion poll showed a strong majority of Scots now want to break with the United Kingdom, while Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, even raised the possibility of blocking the legislation needed for Britain to exit the E.U.
But the economic uncertainty could drag on for years, with Cameron’s successor facing complex negotiations to leave the world’s largest trading bloc and forge new trade deals across the globe. Some economists predict the British economy could tumble into recession next year.
U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry urged Britain and the European Union on Sunday to manage their divorce responsibly for the sake of global markets and citizens.
He is due to meet E.U. foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini in Brussels and British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond in London on Monday. He said he would bring a message of support to both capitals.
‘‘The most important thing is that all of us, as leaders, work together to provide as much continuity, as much stability, as much certainty as possible,’’ Kerry said as he met in Rome with Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, the Associated Press reported.
Globally, the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis has been sluggish and fragile, with recurring crises over government debt in Europe, a collapse in oil prices and rising concern about China’s slowdown buffeting financial markets, investment and economic activity. Prolonged uncertainty over Brexit is not going to help.
On Friday, finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Seven nations acknowledged that the Brexit vote could have ‘‘adverse implications for financial and economic stability’’ but expressed confidence in the health of the banking system and vowed to work together to ensure that markets continued to function smoothly.
Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, said the central bank had taken ‘‘all the necessary steps’’ to prepare for the aftermath of a vote to leave the E.U., adding that British banks have been stress-tested ‘‘against scenarios more severe than the country currently faces.’’
In Asia, policymakers pondered action to stabilize markets.
‘‘Speculative, violent moves have extremely negative effects,’’ said Tomomi Inada, policy chief of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to Nikkei daily. ‘‘If necessary, the government should not hesitate to respond, including currency intervention.’’
South Korea’s finance minister also said he feared that markets will remain volatile throughout negotiations on the British exit, while Hong Kong’s finance chief promised that his government was keeping a close eye on developments after what he described as ‘‘a big surprise’’ from the referendum result, the Reuters news agency reported.
But the global authorities’ room for manoeuver is limited. Central bankers have been flooding the global economy with easy money for years in an attempt to jump-start the recovery, and interest rates around the world remain at very low levels.
In the United States, the fallout from Britain’s decision could reduce growth as much as 0.6 percent next year, analysts at Morgan Stanley estimated. The dollar spiked nearly 2 percent against a basket of currencies on Friday, though it remains below this year’s peak. That makes it more expensive to export American goods, and the relative strength of the dollar has been weighing on the U.S. recovery for two years.
Some analysts even began speculating that the Federal Reserve would have to cut interest rates, just six months after raising them for the first time since the recession amid hopes that the U.S. recovery had solidified. At the very least, economists said, the Fed is likely to remain on hold on the issue of rates when it meets again next month.