Brexit wipes record $3tn off global markets in two days

S&P Dow Jones Global Brand Market Index shed $2.08 trillion in value on the day following the referendum

The world 400 wealthiest investors also lost a combined $127 billion in Friday market turmoil and a further $53 billion on Monday (Getty Images)

Brexit wiped a record $3 trillion off global markets in two days, according to data compiled by Standard & Poor's Dow Jones Indices.

A sharp sell-off in stocks around the world followed the decision by British voters to leave the EU.

S&P Dow Jones Global Brand Market Index, which measures the value of 11,000 stocks in 52 countries, shed $2.08 trillion in value on the day following the referendum.

This surpassed the previous record loss of $1.9 trillion which followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

Global market lost a further $930 billion in Monday trading, bringing the total to a record $3 trillion decline, Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones indices, said.

“The bottom line is that very few investors were positioned for the vote we got,” said Nicholas Colas, chief markets strategist at Convergex told the FT.

ComRes, one of the final polls before the EU referendum published on Wednesday evening, found Remain eights point ahead of Leave, meaning many traders were not prepared for the leave victory.

The win for Leave led to a rapid unwinding of risky assets, while on Monday the further selling was due to a revaluation of assets in anticipation of the long-term consequences of the vote.

The world 400 wealthiest investors also lost a combined $127 billion in Friday market turmoil and a further $53 billion on Monday, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.

Fitch, the credit rating agency, has downgraded the UK’s credit rating to AA negative, after similar moves by Moody’s and S&P, on Monday.

Fitch said it made decision because Britain's vote will have “a negative impact on the UK economy, public finances and political continuity.”

Julian Jessop, an analyst at Capital Economics, told CNBC that despite the increased market turmoil “it would be wrong to conclude that the world is on the cusp of another global financial crisis.”

The FTSE 100 index closed 2.6 per cent higher at 6,140.39 points, with all but nine stocks trading in positive territory.

It had fallen more than 5 percent in the last two sessions after the Brexit vote

The FTSE 250 - seen as a better indicator of UK businesses - closed at 15,503.06 -a rise of 3.58 per cent.

“The FTSE 250 has declined quite sharply over the past couple of days, and you can't sugarcoat that and what's happened now will affect the UK economy more than it will affect the global outlook.

“But we're still above 2014 lows for the index, and so there will be good buying opportunities around these levels,” Michael Hewson Markets analyst said.

European markets are also bouncing higher, with the Dax in Frankfurt up 1.93 per cent, the Cac in Paris up 2.61 per cent at the closing on Tuesday.

David Cameron is today travelling to Brussels for talks with EU leaders following the outcome of the referendum in his final scheduled meeting with the full European Council before he stands down as Prime Minister.