STOCK MARKET: Markets tumble on Donald Trump victory

UK stocks have followed falls in Asian and European markets after Donald Trump won the US election.

The UK's FTSE 100 index was down 82 points, or 1.2%, to 6,761.10 in the opening minutes of trading.

Other major European stock markets are also lower, with money flowing into safe haven stocks, gold and currencies including the yen.

Traders had expected Hillary Clinton to beat Mr Trump to become the next US president.

The main fallers on the FTSE so far have been asset managers, banks and life insurance, while pharmaceutical firms, gold and mining companies are the biggest winners.

Some analysts have likened the shock of a Trump victory to the Brexit result earlier this year.

However, neither markets nor currencies have swung as wildly as they did after June's EU referendum.

Many Asian markets saw losses narrow towards the end of Wednesday trading. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down by 5.4%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong is trading 2.9% lower and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.3%. 

US stock futures fell sharply, with the Dow Jones index expected to lose more than 4% - 800 points when it reopens. 

The Japanese yen, viewed as a safe haven currency in situations of international volatility, strengthened by 3% against the dollar.

Meanwhile, concerns about the impact of a Trump presidency on the Mexican economy saw its currency, the peso, fall more than 13% against the dollar to its lowest level in two decades.

Mexico is expected to suffer if Mr Trump is elected, because of his pledges to build a wall along the US border with the country and renegotiate the two nations' trade agreement.