Britain votes for Brexit

British voters chose Thursday to leave the European Union, a decision that could undermine global growth, upend world politics and create volatility in markets worldwide including the United States.

Officials in the U.S. government, and at the Federal Reserve in particular, will be weighing options for responding to any possible turbulence that might result from the "Brexit" vote, a historic development that could reshape global affairs.

Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen warned earlier this week that "the financial market reaction to the uncertainties that would be unleashed by that decision could result in a kind of risk-off sentiment" that could, among other consequences, push up the dollar and lead to falling stock prices.

Even if the long-term impact on the U.S. is limited, in the "short-term, everyone expects a lot of volatility, huge volatility in all sorts of markets," said Stan Bokov, chief operating officer of the trading social media platform TradingView.

Before Thursday's vote, bank analysts had estimated that a vote to leave the EU could drive down the pound by as much as 10 to 15 percent, with an accompanying drop in British stocks.