The daily business briefing: June 27, 2016

1. Stocks and the pound continue to fall after Brexit

U.S. stock futures fell early Monday in continued Brexit fallout. The British pound dropped by more than 2 percent, hitting a fresh 31-year low under $1.32. Thursday's vote by Britons to leave the European Union triggered panic and uncertainty around the world, causing global stocks to lose $2 trillion in value on Friday. Analysts said that eventually "the dust will settle" and stocks will begin to "grind higher," although the markets will remain volatile as the U.K. and EU negotiate Brexit terms.

Reuters Bloomberg

2. North American leaders to tout free trade in summit

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto arrives in Canada on Monday for a state visit ahead of Wednesday's North American Leaders' Summit with President Obama. The leaders are expected to use the final "Three Amigos" summit to emphasize the benefits of free trade in the wake of the U.K.'s vote last week to exit the European Union. "Obviously it is going to be a much bigger issue than had there been a Remain vote," a senior Canadian official said Sunday.

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Reuters The Globe and Mail

3. Expanded Panama Canal opens

Sunday marked the official opening of new, expanded locks in the Panama Canal, which can now accommodate mega ships transporting up to 14,000 containers at a time. Previously, the largest ships the canal could handle carried just 5,000 containers. A 984-foot container ship from China made the inaugural trip through the new facilities, which took $5.4 billion, 10 years, and 40,000 workers to complete.

USA Today

4. EU leaders urge Britain to consider Brexit fallout

Representatives from 27 European Union members agreed in Brussels on Sunday to give the U.K. some time to think about the Brexit fallout before giving official notice to leave the EU. At first, members of the 28-nation trading bloc had said they wanted the U.K. to announce it was leaving immediately in the aftermath of Thursday's non-binding Brexit referendum. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, said that "politicians in London should take the time to reconsider the consequences of the Brexit decision‚ but by that I emphatically do not mean Brexit itself." Merkel is hosting her counterparts from France, Italy, and the European Council on Monday to discuss the Brexit strategy. French President Francois Hollande said Sunday that it's important for European leaders to have a united front on the "irreversible" referendum, since "separated, we run the risk of divisions, dissension, and quarrels."

The Wall Street Journal Financial Times

5. Low gas prices to spur record July 4 travel

Record numbers of Americans are expected to travel over the July 4 weekend, taking advantage of the lowest gas prices since 2005. AAA predicts that nearly 43 million people will travel for Independence Day, with 85 percent of them going by car. The average price for regular unleaded is $2.32, down 17 percent from the same time last year. "It's prompting more drivers to take to the road," said Nadia Anderson, manager of federal affairs at AAA. "We're seeing more people decide to take that trip 50 miles or more away from their home."

Bloomberg