U.S. stocks extend losses after Brexit vote

U.S. stocks traded sharply lower on Monday, extended Friday' s decline, as Britain's vote to leave the European Union (EU) continued to weigh on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 dropped more than 2 percent in the morning session, below the psychologically key 2,000 level for the first time since March.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 259.62 points, or 1.49 percent, to 17,141.13. The S&P 500 shed 36.61 points, or 1.80 percent, to 2,000.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 110.18 points, or 2.34 percent, to 4,597.80.

"Is this the beginning of the end for the EU? Probably not, but you'll get no straight answer," said Stephen Guilfoyle, managing director at Deep Value, on Monday.

The Leave camp won Britain's Brexit referendum on Friday by obtaining nearly 52 percent of ballots, pulling the country out of the 28-nation European Union (EU) after its 43-year membership.

"European leaders' initial reaction-anger, a vow to make it is as difficult as possible for the UK and call to get the process started as soon as possible-has become more conciliatory now they have had a few days to get over the shock," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, Monday.

The stunning referendum results sent global markets on a wild descent, and were seen by many economists as a threat to global economic stability.

U.S. stocks plunged Friday following global rout, after Britain voted to leave the EU in a historic referendum.

For the last week, all three major indices suffered big losses, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dropping 1.6 percent, 1.6 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. Enditem