SINGAPORE – Commodities were swept up in global market turmoil as investors sold off growth-related assets including oil and copper and sought haven in precious metals as UK voters opted to leave the European Union after more than four decades.
The Bloomberg Commodities Index fell as much as 2%, the most in more than a month, as Brent crude futures slumped 6.6% and copper in London tumbled 4%. Gold rose the most in almost 8 years and silver rallied in its biggest intraday gain in 18 months. BBC projections showed voters backing “Leave” by 52% to 48% as of 5:11 a.m. London time, in a surprising rejection of Europe’s postwar political and economic order.
As results rolled in to show voters in the world’s fifth-largest economy opted to leave the EU, markets across the globe plunged into turmoil. The British pound slid to the lowest since 1985 and Asian stocks tumbled while safe-haven assets including U.S. Treasuries rose. Energy and raw material companies led losses in equities across Asia.
“It’s a big shock, the fear is spreading,” Kang Yoo Jin, a Seoul-based commodities analyst at NH Investment & Securities Co., said by phone. “Everything else in commodities except precious metals is getting slammed right now as the general expectation throughout this week was that Brexit won’t happen. Once markets open in the U.S., it could be a ‘Black Friday’ as there is a chance that prices will be hit harder.”
Volatile Markets
Energy and industrial metals, where demand is tied to expectations for global economic growth, were hardest hit. Brent crude traded 5.9% lower at $47.90 a barrel, after tumbling the most since April 18. Copper slid the most since Jan. 7 to $4,588 a metric ton and nickel fell as much as 4.7%. Agricultural commodities had smaller losses, with wheat down as much as 2.4% in Chicago and corn losing as much as 2.6%.
Precious metals were the lone bright spot, as investors expect them to hold their value in times of economic turmoil. Gold rose as much as 8.1%, the most since Sept. 17, 2008, days after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy at the height of the global financial crisis. Silver gained as much as 6%, the most since Dec. 1, 2014. In a sign of risk aversion, yields on U.S. 10-year Treasury notes slid.
“I have never seen volatility like this in my whole life,” Bob Takai, Tokyo-based president of Sumitomo Corp. Global Research Co., said by phone. “It’s definitely a flight to quality assets. In these kinds of circumstances, gold, and also silver a little bit, are the typical places to hide investors’ money.”