A first look at Brexit and global equity markets

Global equity markets fell by nearly 5% overall on 24 June 2016 following news of the Brexit referendum result. Although nearly all EU stock market indices experienced additional significantly negative abnormal returns, especially poor performance was registered by the debt-ridden PIIGS group (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain). In this article, we identify a systematic tendency for more severe stock market responses to be concentrated amongst countries with higher debt to GDP ratios. This effect endures even after controlling for the degree of openness, EU membership and for being part of the PIIGS group.