Stock plunge triggers automatic trading halt.
Stocks on Wall Street fell more than 10 percent on Monday, after an extraordinary move by the Federal Reserve aimed at shoring up confidence instead sparked more panic.
Investors were also confronted with weak economic readings out of both China and the United States, the world’s largest economies. Chinese officials reported that retail sales, manufacturing activity and investment in the first two months of the year slumped by even more than economists had expected, and a gauge of manufacturing activity in New York state collapsed by the most ever in a month.
“Unfortunately this is the new reality. This report is a harbinger of what is to come,” wrote economic analysts with the investment bank Jefferies in New York.
The S&P 500 fell 8 percent and stock trading was immediately halted for 15 minutes. When trading resumed, stocks fell further. The S&P 500 was down about 11 percent around 9:45 a.m. in New York. Trading will halt again if the drop reaches 13 percent.