US trading halts second time in a week since 1997

New York, March 12: The deepening coronavirus crisis sent stocks into another alarming slide Thursday, extending a sell-off that has wiped out most of the big run-up on Wall Street since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted more than 2,250 points, or nearly 9.7 per cent, at one point but started climbing back after the Federal Reserve said it would step in to the bond market to address “highly unusual disruptions’’ in trading of Treasury securities. Still, the Dow was still down nearly 1,600 points, or 6.7 per cent, in the early afternoon, while the broader S&P 500 was off 6.3 per cent. European markets lost 12 per cent in one of their worst days in history.

The steep fall came amid a cascade of cancellations and shutdowns across the globe and rising worries that the White House and other authorities around the world can’t or won’t help the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic any time soon.

On Wall Street, stocks fell so fast at the opening bell that they triggered an automatic, 15-minute trading halt for the second time this week. The socalled circuit breakers were first adopted after the 1987 crash, and until this week hadn’t been activated since 1997.

Trump often points proudly to the big rise on Wall Street under his administration, and the

Dow just last month was boasting a nearly 50 per cent gain since he took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2017. By early Thursday afternoon, the Dow was clinging to a nine per cent gain. It was still up 17 per cent since just before Trump’s election in November 2016.

A drop on Wednesday sent the Dow into what is known as a bear market for the first time in more than a decade when the index lost more than 20 per cent from its all-time high, set just last month. The S&P 500 was likewise in danger of finishing the day Thursday in bear market territory. That would bring to a close the longest bull run in Wall Street history.

The latest sell-off came after Trump announced late Wednesday he would restrict travel to the US from Europe in hopes of containing the virus, dealing another hit to the already battered airline and travel industries.

The US President also outlined measures to extend financial help to individuals and businesses hurt by the crisis.

But “the market judgment on that announcement is that it’s too little, too late,’’ said Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets.

◗ On Wall Street, stocks fell so fast at the opening bell that they triggered an automatic, 15-minute trading halt for the second time this week.