A global flight to safety triggered by the prospect of Britain leaving the European Union and central banks’ ability to stimulate economic growth pushed ten-year German government borrowing costs into negative territory for the first time in history.
Stock markets across the world were in shock after polls gave Leave a commanding lead, with European bourses hitting their lowest levels since February. Sterling slumped to a two-month low as investors dumped the pound in favour of the safer havens of government debt and gold. Yields on UK gilts dropped to their lowest on record.
Yields on ten-year German bunds, the gold standard for security, fell as low as -0.004 per cent, joining Japan and Switzerland in negative territory, amid a flurry of buying activity. In