Today marks a historic day for the United Kingdom.
While it has looked like the Brexit vote would prevail for much of today, CNN has reported that it is now mathematically impossible for a Remain vote to win.
With results from 377 out of 382 declared, the Leave vote has won 51.8% to 48.2% for the Remain vote.
The outcome of today's vote has had a dramatic effect on markets around the world. Gold prices have risen 6%, with shares of businesses such as St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM), Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) soaring higher.
In contrast, the British Pound has crumbled 12% against the US greenback, as has the Australian dollar which is now down 4.1% to US73.27 cents.
The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has also tumbled 3.5% to below 5100 points. Companies that are directly exposed to the London market, including BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) have fallen even more sharply, losing 7.8% and 6.2% so far.
The banks have also been hit hard. Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) are both down 4.8% while Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) is also down 1.5%.
Unfortunately, the volatility is unlikely to be restricted to today's session with further losses possible next week. The futures markets are also pointing to a sharp fall in international equity markets, including a 3.6% drop for the Dow Jones and a 9% drop for the FTSE 100.
Indeed, the Brexit vote does raise questions that, at this point, there are no answers to.
What investors do need to remember, however, is that the volatility will pass. And until it does, there could well be some great buying opportunities presenting themselves to investors who are focused on the long-term.
