The euro is diving as Italy's prime minister resigns amid a landslide defeat in referendum vote
The euro is falling off a cliff as Italy's prime minister resigns amid a landslide defeat in referendum vote.
The currency is down by 0.9% at 1.0573 against the dollar as of 7:19 p.m. ET. Earlier, it tumbled as low as 1.0506, the lowest level since March 2015.
Italy's prime minister Matteo Renzi announced his resignation in Rome shortly after midnight local time on Monday, after losing the critical referendum on which he staked his political career.
Italians voted Sunday on whether to significantly cut the number of senators in Italy's government, a move Renzi argued would significantly cut bureaucracy in Italy. Renzi stated earlier this year that he would resign if "Yes" did not win.
"No" won by a significant margin, with figures currently showing 60%-40% in its favor. The result is seen as a rejection of Renzi and his leadership.
The Italian referendum follows several other political events in 2016 that saw reverberations in currency markets. Chief among them, the Brexit vote back in June, when Britons voted to leave the European Union, the coup in Turkey, and the November election of Donald Trump.
Head over here to see the latest on the Italian referendum vote.