British stocks volatile after vote to leave EU

Trading in shares of two big British banks has been temporarily suspended amid volatility in the markets.
British stocks volatile after vote to leave EU

LONDON: The Latest on Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union (all times local):

10:50 a.m.

Trading in shares of two big British banks has been temporarily suspended amid volatility in the markets following the country's decision to leave the European Union.

The London Stock Exchange says trading the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays was suspended when they briefly moved out of the trading range of 8 percent — an automatic action. RBS is down 14.6 percent to 175.55 pence ($2.4). Barclays is down 10 percent to 137.55 pence.

Trading resumed after five minutes.

Other British stocks are also experiencing sharp volatility in the aftermath of the vote. They include airline EasyJet, home builder Taylor Wimpey and insurer Legal &General.

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10:45 a.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman says there can't be informal talks on the conditions for Britain leaving the European Union before London has filed formal notice of its intention to quit the bloc.

Only Britain can invoke Article 50 of the EU treaty, which triggers the formal process by which the country would leave the union. Departing Prime Minister David Cameron has signaled that that could take several months, while many European leaders want it to come immediately.

Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said Monday that "if the government needs a reasonable amount of time to do that, we respect that," but the uncertainty cannot continue forever.

Seibert said: "One thing is clear: before Great Britain has sent this notification, there will be no informal preliminary talks about the exit modalities."

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10:30 a.m.

The foreign minister of the Czech Republic says that a "fast and hasty integration" of the remaining 27 members of the European Union would be a "bad response" to Britain's decision to leave the EU.

Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said Monday that doing nothing would also be bad, but that popular support was needed for further integration and new EU policies.

Zaoralek spoke after a meeting in Prague with his colleagues from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Germany and France.

Zaoralek said that "I hope we will be able to try and start persuading the people in Europe that the EU is a project that can appeal to them, that can solve the issues they are facing in a practical way."

Another meeting of foreign ministers of non-founding members of the EU is scheduled to take place in Warsaw later Monday.

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10:10 a.m.

Former London Mayor Boris Johnson says there is no great rush to leave the European Union as he praised Treasury chief George Osborne's efforts to calm gyrating financial markets.

Johnson, one of the most prominent campaigners behind the vote to have Britain leave the EU, also praised Osborne's decision to forgo an emergency austerity budget.

Osborne had said such budget would be necessary during the campaign, which was nicknamed "Project Fear" because of its dire predictions on the fate of the nation in the event of a British exit from the EU, or Brexit.

Johnson told reporters Monday: "It's clear now the Project Fear is over," and that he was reassured by Osborne's words.

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9:30 a.m.

Several more members of Britain's opposition Labour Party have resigned from party posts, calling on leader Jeremy Corbyn to quit.

Half a dozen lawmakers who serve as spokespeople on key issues quit Monday morning. They follow 11 members of Corbyn's shadow cabinet — the opposition party's mirror government — who resigned Sunday after Corbyn fired Labour foreign affairs spokesman Hilary Benn for allegedly plotting against him.

Corbyn says he will not resign, and has appointed lawmakers loyal to him to fill the vacated posts. He insists he will run in any new leadership contest, and says he has the support of the party's grassroots.

Many Labour lawmakers accuse Corbyn of running a lukewarm campaign in support of remaining in the EU. They also fear the left-winger cannot win a generalelection, which could come well before the scheduled date of 2020.

Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will step down by October, and a new prime minister may call an early election to solidify a mandate before negotiating Britain's EU exit.

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9:10 a.m.

Germany's defense minister says she doesn't expect Britain to rejoin the European Union in her lifetime.

A majority of older British voters favored leaving the EU in Thursday's referendum, while most younger voters wanted to stay in.

Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, who is 57, told Germany's ARD television Sunday night: "Great Britain will not re-enter the European Union in my lifetime, but perhaps our children or grandchildren will be smart enough to restore the strength of Europe."

Von der Leyen also added her voice to calls for Britain to clarify its intentions and trigger the negotiating process quickly. Departing Prime Minister David Cameron has signaled that he wants to wait several months to begin the country's exit from the 28-nation bloc.

Asked to define quickly, she said: "I can't define that in days or weeks. That is not in my hands. But the idea of 'months' takes some getting used to for us — it is actually not acceptable."

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8:50 a.m.

A leading business group says 20 percent of its members plan to move some of their operations outside of the U.K. in light of the country's decision to leave the European Union.

The Institute of Directors said Monday that a survey of its 1,000 members showed that three out of four believe that Britain's exit from the EU, or Brexit, will be bad for business.

Simon Walker, the director-general of the group, says that while businesses will be busy working out how they are going to adapt, "we can't sugar-coat this, many of our members are feeling anxious."

The group says over a third of its members say that the vote result will prompt them to cut investment in their businesses.

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8:35 a.m.

Germany's EU commissioner is urging Britain to clarify its intentions after voters chose to leave the European Union, and says he can't imagine the government backing off that decision.

Departing Prime Minister David Cameron has signaled that he wants to wait several months to begin the country's exit from the 28-nation bloc. Many European leaders want it to start immediately.

Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told Deutschlandfunk radio Monday that Britain's governing Conservative Party needs to figure out what to do. He said: "With every day of uncertainty, investors in the whole world will be discouraged from investing in Great Britain or from believing in Europe."

Oettinger said the referendum "has great authority, however much it annoys one." He added that he "can't imagine the British government putting that into question."

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8:30 a.m.

The French finance minister is insisting that Britain pull itself out of the EU as soon as possible and is dismissing speculation that a British exit, or Brexit, may never actually come to pass.

Michel Sapin said on France-2 television Monday there is "no difference" between France and Germany on the timetable for a withdrawal, though French officials appear in a particular hurry to close this difficult chapter in post-war European unity.

"Should Britain go quickly? Yes. France, like Germany, thinks that Britain voted, Britain voted for Brexit, and the Brexit should be put in place starting now," Sapin said.

He said European authorities should not allow Britain to stay in an "indefinite, we'll see later" mindset but must force the British to accept the consequences of last week's historic vote.

The British exit is priority No. 1 as French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet later Monday in Berlin with EU President Donald Tusk and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, ahead of an EU-wide summit Tuesday and Wednesday.

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8:10 a.m.

British and European stock markets fell again on Monday amid the uncertainty over what the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union might lead to.

The FTSE 100 benchmark in London was down about 1 percent at 6,090 while Germany's DAX was 0.5 percent lower at 9,509.

One of the reasons the FTSE 100 has not dropped more since Friday, when it closed only 3.2 percent lower, is that many of its listed companies earn money in foreign countries, and the pound's sharp drop will translate into higher profits when that money is brought back to the U.K. The pound's drop also makes those shares cheaper for investors outside Britain.

The pound continued to suffer the most losses in the markets, dropping another 1.6 percent against the dollar on Monday, to $1.3462. Since early Friday it has dropped to levels last seen in 1985.

Stockholm's stock exchange, which was closed for a holiday on Friday, when the vote's result caused heavy losses on global markets, dropped by 6 percent on Monday.

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7:30 a.m.

Treasury chief George Osborne has sought to calm nerves in the markets, as investors worry about the consequences of Britain leaving the European Union.

In his first public appearance since the vote to leave the bloc Thursday, Osborne tried to reassure markets shaken by the result, saying "our economy is about as strong as it could be to face this challenge."

Yet, he acknowledged it would not be plain sailing in the days ahead.

The pound fell in Asian markets amid fears of the consequences of the vote. Political turmoil has roiled the country, as the leaders grappled with the question of how precisely the country would separate Britain from the other 27 nations in the bloc.

Germany, Britain and France will be meeting to discuss the decision.

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