Volatility patterns of the constituents of FTSE100 in the aftermath of the U.K. Brexit referendum

Abstract

I investigate how sentiment contributed to the build-up of volatility of the constituents of the FTSE100 in the aftermath of the ”yes” to the UK Brexit referendum of Thursday June 23, 2016. Sentiment is estimated as the sensitivity of stock volatility to market and exchange rate volatility, respectively. Under the hypothesis that rational investors would become either sentimentalists or fundamentalists on a day of extreme, a U-shaped pattern will result. I document a damped U-shaped pattern that describes the way rational investors moved to acquire high trading stocks and to float low trading stocks.