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More than £32billion was wiped off the value of Britain's 100 biggest firms within minutes of the FTSE opening this morning.

The index initially crashed 130 points in reaction to Donald Trump's election victory.

However, it later staged a remarkable recovery and, by 9am, it was down just 14 points.

The fall mirrored stock market volatility elsewhere around the world.

Oil prices tumbled, as brent crude slumped 2.43% at $44.92 a barrel.

"This is deja vu of the Brexit moment, very worrying," said Bob Takai, president at Sumitomo Corp Global Research in Tokyo.

A sustained fall in oil prices could potentially take some of the heat out of a rising petrol prices and inflation.

However, it is a sign that investors are worried about the global economy.

Meanwhile, the price of gold has seen its biggest single day surge since June's bombshell Brexit vote.

The yellow metal jumped 5% as investors piled into the commodity, which is seen as a safe haven in troubled times.

By 9am, the pound was up about 0.2% against the dollar at $1.2407.

The biggest loser was the Mexican peso, given Donald Trump's incendiary comments about Mexicans in the run-up to the vote.

The peso is down to a record low against the dollar.

The Mexican currency was trading at 20.70 to the greenback, down 11 percent from Tuesday's close.

Markets fear a Trump victory could cause international economic and trade turmoil, discouraging the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates in December as long expected.

Fed fund futures were even starting to toy with the idea of a cut in rates next year.

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(Image: REUTERS)

The scale of the scare was clear in the Mexican peso, where the dollar surged over 10 percent in the biggest daily move in two decades.

The peso has become a touchstone for sentiment on the election as Trump's trade policies are seen as damaging to its export-heavy economy.

But the story was very different against the safe-haven yen, with the dollar shedding 3 percent to 102.02 yen. The euro gained 1.5 percent to $1.1190.

(Image: REUTERS)

South Korean authorities were thought to have intervened to steady their currency, and dealers were wondering if central banks globally would step in to calm nerves.

U.S. stock futures recoiled more than 4 percent, a loss reminiscent of the carnage that followed the British vote to leave the European Union in June.

Asian stocks followed, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan down more than 3 percent, while the Nikkei sank nearly 5 percent

Hillary's odds also slipped with bookies, and the peso plunged against the dollar.

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Elsewhere there was nervousness in the international markets and a fall in the value of the dollar. The dollar tumbled more than two percent versus the yen at one point.

During the night, contests in key battleground states were too close to call, severely denting Clinton's hopes of becoming the first female president in US history.

In a message which appeared to betray the nervousness in the Clinton camp, the Democratic nominee thanked her supporters "whatever happens tonight".

(Image: PA)

Ohio was won by Barack Obama for the Democrats in 2012, but Republican nominee Mr Trump's campaign has targeted the bellwether state, which has voted for the eventual occupant of the White House in every election since 1960.

Florida voted Democrat in 2012 and Mrs Clinton's hopes may hinge on a high turnout among Latino voters opposed to Mr Trump, who has courted controversy in the campaign with outspoken attacks on Mexican immigrants.

The dollar tumbled and Asian shares shed early gains as Mr Trump powered ahead with some impressive early results.