Real-time updates: US markets are cratering with shares down more than 5% due to the spread of coronavirus

Forced freezing was a sign of unprecedented volatility for Wall Street in the midst of the most turbulent trade in recent memory. Another 15 minute shutdown will be triggered if the S&P 500 leaks reach the 13 percent threshold. In the event of a 20 percent drop, markets should close for the day.

“Today is the 11 year birthday of the bull market, but investors are not in the celebratory mood with trading interrupted shortly after the opening as the markets plummeted,” wrote chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com Greg McBride on Monday. . “The uncertain economic impact of coronavirus continues to hit the markets, with stocks, commodities and interest rates falling sharply. Markets hate uncertainty and there is a lot going around. “

But the first stop ever seemed to have a stabilizing effect, stimulating a rebound in all US indices. Less than an hour after freezing, the Dow dropped more than 1,380 points, about 5.3 percent. The S&P 500 was also down 5.3 percent and the Nasdaq was down 4.8 percent.

Oil prices plummeted in the 1930s after Saudi Arabia and Russia stopped production. The Saudis were pushing for a cut in production to support prices, but it made a turnaround when Russia opposed it and instead decided to flood the market with hundreds of thousands of additional barrels a day with a strong discount – a move analysts fear could trigger a price war.

“Cheap oil is one thing. Super cheap oil is another, “said John Kilduff of Again Capital. “The stock market is observing the collapse of the oil price like a canary in the coal mine by a one-two disinflationary punch, driven in part by the growing demand for transportation fuels and by an unbridled price war between the main producers of oil “which will result in large losses for US and Canadian producers.

The collapse in oil prices may please consumers at the pump, but they would be devastating for oil companies and global markets, which have already been plundered by coronavirus panic. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, plummeted over 21 percent to $ 35 a barrel, its largest drop since the Gulf War. The price of West Texas intermediate crude, widely used in the United States, dropped from around $ 41 to $ 32 a barrel on Sunday evening, a minimum not seen in four years.

Global markets were apoplectic. Japan’s Nikkei closed more than 5 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost more than 4.2 percent. European markets plummeted more than 7 percent across the board in midday trading.

The panic pushed the 10-year US treasury yield below 0.4 percent for the first time in history Monday as investors fled to safe havens. The trajectory could be an inauspicious sign of a weakened economy, because a low yield can indicate a lack of confidence in economic growth. Returns decline as bond prices rise. Gold, another safe haven, rose 0.4 percent in early trading.

Confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States exceeded 500 over the weekend, with cases in 30 states and the District of Columbia. The Americans are starting to suffer interruptions in work and travel and the list of the most important events canceled in the face of the outbreak grows hour by hour. Many grocery stores and pharmacies report being cleaned of bottled water, disinfectant products, and frozen and stable foods. The virus has spread to over 95 countries and has affected more than 110,000.

“The broader equity indices … eventually gave way to an incredible period of excessive optimism from the public investor and speculators,” said Steve Craig, chief energy analyst at Elliott Wave International, in an email. . “It’s easy to blame the panic of global selling over fears of a coronavirus pandemic, but it has more to do with over-investor optimism than anything else.”