Out of the 18 shares in the PSI20 benchmark index, only Pharol closed in the black, up 2.11% at €0.097, with all the others in the red and five losing more than 10%.

BCP (-12.20% at €0.018), Post office CTT (-10.77% at €6.937), power utility EDP (-10.68% at €2.635), media company NOS (-10.53% ay €5.432) and Sonae SGPS (-10.27% at €0.734) took the biggest tumbles.

The day saw significant drops in bourses across the continent in a negative reaction to the UK’s decision to leave the EU, in Thursday’s referendum.

The chairman of ‘Informação de Mercados Financeiros’, Filipe Garcia, acknowledged that the blood bath was somewhat expected after the “markets’ surprise shock” this morning. “The markets had spent the last few days positioning for a win by the remain supporters and had to correct rapidly”