U.S. stock futures, pound fall in Brexit aftershocks

By Hideyuki Sano

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures dipped and the British pound fell more than one percent in early Asian trade on Monday, as markets struggled to shake off a swathe of uncertainty sparked by Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

Among many questions Brexit has triggered are just how much UK and European economies will slow, how they will negotiate their new trade relationship and how European leaders will try to boost the crumbling European Union.

Global stock markets lost about $2 trillion (1.48 trillion pounds) in value on Friday, with MSCI's broadest gauge of the world's stock markets losing 4.8 percent, its biggest fall in nearly five years.

"We believe that markets will remain cautious, as uncertainty over exit negotiations causes risk averse sentiment to linger," George Davis, chief technical analyst at RBC Dominion Securities said in a note.

U.S. S&P mini futures (ESc1), the world's most traded stock futures, fell 0.6 percent to 2,006 on Monday, edging near Friday's 3-1/2 month low of 1,999.

U.S.-listed Nikkei futures (NIYcm1) fell 0.8 percent from U.S. close, though it is still above Tokyo close on Friday, pointing to a gain of 0.5 percent in Nikkei (.N225).

"Given the huge trading volume on Friday, I suspect people have done at least the minimum amount of hedging they need to do," said a head of derivative trading at a Japanese brokerage firm.

"But we could see more selling in risk assets in the end. After all Brexit doesn't really support appetite for buying stocks."

The British pound fell 1.9 percent to $1.3455 (GBP=D4), though it still kept some distance from the 31-year low of $1.3228 touched during Friday's wild trade.

Against the yen, sterling fell more than 2 percent to 137.24 yen (GBPJPY=). That was more than 14 percent below its levels early on Friday when investors believed the "remain" camp would win the referendum.

The euro (EUR=) also came under further pressure, falling 0.5 percent against the dollar, as investors fret Brexit could stoke the anti-establishment mood in Europe.

"(There will be) sell-off in the euro as talk of other exit referenda builds. This sell-off will be more profound and long-lasting and will be not just against the dollar and yen but also against the pound. It will also raise fears of significant loss of values for holders of Euro-zone government bonds," said Jerome Booth, chairman of New Sparta Asset Management in London.

The euro fell to $1.10665 compared to Friday's 3-1/2-month low of $1.0912.

Demand for safe haven government debt remained strong.

In early electronic trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, 10-year Treasury note futures (TYv1) rose around half a point, or 0.38 percent, while 2-year note futures (TUv1) gained about 0.1 percent.

Still, in a sign Briton's shock decision to leave the European Union may be encouraging Europeans to seek the safety of the status quo, support for Spain's conservative People's Party (PP) surged in Sunday's general election.

(Editing by Lincoln Feast)