Stocks Opened Sharply Lower in Brexit Swoon

U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Monday, as investors continued to dump assets perceived as risky in the wake of U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dropped 224.49 points, or 1.29%, to 17,176.26. The S&P 500 fell 25.81 points, or 1.27%, to 2,011.60. The Nasdaq Composite was down 64.90 points, or 1.381%, to 4,643.08.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is no longer due to speak at a global central bank summit starting on Monday, the second high-profile defection after the Bank of England’s governor pulled out following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. An updated version of the program of the event, organized by the European Central Bank, showed on Monday that a panel with Yellen, ECB President Mario Draghi and BoE Governor Mark Carney had been taken out.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says that the decision of British voters to leave the European Union is “an additional headwind” for the U.S. and global economies but “there is no sense of a financial crisis developing.”

Britain will continue to have access to the European Union’s single market despite voting to leave the bloc, leading Brexit campaigner and favorite to become the country’s next prime minister Boris Johnson said in a newspaper article on Sunday.

Medtronic Plc on Monday said it agreed to acquire HeartWare International Inc. for $1.1 billion, adding more heart- failure products to the medical-device maker.