Coronavirus: Wall St grinds to a halt in first minute of opening

Stocks have taken another stunning nosedive on Wall Street, triggering a trading halt on opening and finishing with one of its worst days on record.

Stocks have taken another stunning nosedive on Wall Street, triggering a trading halt on opening and finishing with one of its worst days on record.

The Dow plunged nearly 3,000 points on Monday — or nearly 13 percent, its biggest drop since the “Black Monday” crash of 1987.

It came after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates to near zero in a surprise move that stoked fears about the damage the coronavirus is doing to the economy.

Stocks accelerated their downward move in the final minutes of trading as US President Donald Trump warned that the deadly virus may not peak in the US until July or August, and the White House stepped up recommendations including cancelling all discretionary travel and avoiding public spaces and gatherings of more than 10 people.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 2,997.10 points, or 12.9 percent, to 20,188.52. That’s within spitting distance of 19,827.25, where the Dow closed the day of Mr Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2017, the New York Post reports.

The Dow plunged more than 1400 points as coronavirus cases rose around the world. Picture: Jeenah Moon/Getty Images/AFP.

Trader Michael Gallucci works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Picture: AP /Richard Drew.

The S&P 500, which had triggered its third “circuit breaker” at the start of the day by plunging more than 8 percent within seconds of the opening bell, lost 12 percent to close at 2,386.13. The Nasdaq fell 12.3 percent to 6,904.59.

New York Stock Exchange President Stacey Cunningham said “we’re seeing a lot of anxiety in the market”.

“Seeing circuit breakers like this is certainly unusual, they’re not a protection that we’ve used very often,” she said.

“But we’re in usual market conditions right now.”

MORE: Follow the latest on coronavirus here

MORE: What Australians need to know about coronavirus

Traders work on the floor at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange on March 11, 2020 in New York. Picture: Bryan R. Smith / AFP.

US equity markets have resumed trading following the Market Wide Circuit Breaker trading halt

— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) March 16, 2020

The S&P 500 index has declined by 7%, triggering a Level 1 Market Wide Circuit Breaker trading halt. US equity markets will resume after 15 minutes.

— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) March 16, 2020

The Federal Reserve’s second emergency rate cut in less than two weeks came late Sunday, just two days ahead of its scheduled policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. The cut took many investors by surprise, fueling a sense of alarm that the central bank is quickly using up its ammunition to fight the deadly epidemic.

Director of Trading Floor Operations Fernando Munoz, right, works with trader Robert Oswald, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Picture: AP Photo/Richard Drew.

In addition to slashing near-term interest rates to between zero and 0.25 percent, the Federal Reserve said it will buy at least $500 billion of Treasury securities and $200 billion of mortgage-backed securities.

Trading in the market began to get snarled last week, with traders saying they saw disconcertingly large gaps in prices offered by buyers and sellers.

“Despite whipping out the big guns,” the Federal Reserve’s action is “falling short of being the decisive backstop for markets,” said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report. “Markets might have perceived the Fed’s response as panic, feeding into its own fears.”

Monday’s tumble immediately followed a record-breaking rally on Friday, when the Dow surged 1,985 points after Mr Trump declared a national emergency and unveiled $50 billion war chest to fight the pandemic.