The “Brexit” vote is happening and before it began, many pundits said it’s too close to call.
The United Kingdom’s vote about whether to leave or remain part of the European Union has implications for the U.S., as many American companies, including broadcasters, own stock in companies overseas and vice versa.
A vote to stay in the EU would be a return to the status quo for Britain, one of the strongest EU countries, and it would not have a cloud of uncertainty hanging over its head, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Financial markets would go back to focusing on the pace of interest-rate increases here in the U.S., growth in China and oil prices.
But investors, economists and analysts say a vote to leave would take the world’s stocks, bonds and currencies “on a wild ride” and they say to brace for changes in the price of gold, among other currencies. “It has an impact on the rest of the world,” F.L. Putnam Investment Management Chief Executive Tom Manning told the WSJ.
How bad the market could react is not yet clear, but a vote to leave the EU means investors will rush to safety and precipitate a steep move in global markets on Friday from risky assets to havens, according to the account.
