Swedish stock market hit hard after Brexit

Stockholm stock market plummeted by nearly eight percent on Monday, the first day of trading since Britons voted to leave the European Union last week.

The Stockholm stock exchange was closed over the midsummer's weekend and Monday was the first day of trading after the so-called Brexit vote. It turned out to be one of the worst since October 2008. That was at the height of the financial crisis when the Stockholm stock exchange dropped by 7.12 percent.

"We were celebrating Midsummer's Eve on Friday so there was a delayed effect here after the UK referendum," said Johanna Cervenka, economics commentator at Swedish Television.

She continued,"They are trying to assess what will happen next but right now everything is very uncertain and so many turn away from what are regarded insecure stocks. Instead, they look for what is secure, like gold for instance."

The Swedish banks were hardest hit. Shares in Sweden's Handelsbanken, which counts Britain as a home market with over 200 branches in the country, slid nine percent on Monday over concerns about the impact of Brexit.

The currency market also experienced chaos after the EU referendum, with the British pound plunging. Against the Swedish krona, the pound dropped to around 11.40 -- the lowest exchange rate since the fall of 2014. By comparison, at the start of the year, the pound was worth 12.61 krona. Endit