Stocks of major US lenders plunged Monday on Wall Street in the wake of Britain's June 23 referendum and the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

The S&P financial index dipped by three percent in late morning trade, with investors increasingly worried about London's status as a financial hub. But the index pared some of its losses later in the trading day.

JPMorgan dropped about 4 percent, while Bank of America shed over 6 percent. The stocks were among the biggest drags on the S&P 500 index.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the Brexit vote would have significant repercussions on the US economic outlook. It's widely believed to have lessened the likelihood of the Federal Reserve raising short-term interest rates any time soon.

Gloomy European markets

The selloff on Friday had already eroded $2.08 trillion (1.89 trillion euros) in market capitalization globally, marking the biggest one-day loss ever.

European stocks were also hammered once again on Monday. London's FTSE 100 was down about 2.5 percent, while Germany's blue-chip Dax 30 closed over 3 percent in negative territory.

The German MDax of small and medium-sized enterprises lost 4.58 percent, while the nation's technology stocks index TecDax shed 4.15 percent, mirroring the sentiment of all big stock exchanges across the EU.

"What I can say with certainty is uncertainty will remain," FIS Group CEO Tina Byles Williams said in a statement.

hg/sri (Reuters, AFP)