Trading in US stocks was automatically halted for a mandatory 15 minutes on Monday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indexes tumbled on their open over fears of a looming recession.
The Dow, the broadest equities gauge on the New York Stock Exchange, lost 2,250 points, or almost 10 percent, to halt trading at 20,935. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 6.1 percent to 7,393. The S&P500, barometer for the top 500 US stocks, remained suspended at Friday’s level of 2,711.
TOKYO (Sputnik) - The current situation in the global economy is different than the "Lehman Brothers shock," as the global economic crisis of 2008-2009 is referred to in Japan, and global economic conditions will begin recovery as soon as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic declines, Haruhiko Kuroda, the governor of the Bank of Japan, said on Monday.
"There are fears of low economic growth over some time. But as soon as the infection in various countries declines, the economic situation will begin to recover. Today, we do not think it will be like a Lehman Brothers shock, when the real economy declines," Kuroda said at a press conference in Tokyo.
Kuroda explained that stimulating measures adopted by the Bank of Japan on Monday were due to a decline in exports to China and the coronavirus-related decrease in consumption. He repeatedly stressed that the experience of China and South Korea showed that the epidemic would be temporary.
However, Kuroda did not rule out that the impact on enterprises can be long-lasting. The measures taken will be valid for at least six months and, if necessary, can be extended, he said.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of Japan said it would double the purchase of assets of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and real estate investment trusts (J-REITs), as well as launch a low-cost lending program for companies affected by the coronavirus. At the same time, the Japanese regulator decided to keep the key rate at a negative level of minus 0.1 percent and continue to target the yield of 10-year government bonds at a level close to 0 percent.
The 2008-2009 global economic crisis was triggered by the collapse of the US bond market, followed by the bankruptcy of banking conglomerate Lehman Brothers, one of the pillars of the US financial system.
The Ibovespa index plunged to its lowest level since December 2017.
NEW YORK (Sputnik) - US stocks tumbled at Monday’s open over fears of a looming recession, with Wall Street’s three main indexes all down about 11 percent each, after trading on the bourse was automatically halted for a mandatory 15 minutes to prevent an unmitigated crash.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broadest equities gauge on the New York Stock Exchange, was down 2,722 points, or 11.7 percent, to 20,437 by 9:50 AM ET (13:50 GMT). The S&P500, barometer for the top 500 US stocks, was down 10.6 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 11.2 percent.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The price for Brent oil has fallen below $30 for 1 barrel for the first time since February 2016 amid the global market turmoil, with oil prices seeing an up to 12 percent decrease, according to the exchange data.
As of 4.32 p.m. Moscow time (13:32 GMT), Brent futures for delivery in May were down 12.05 percent to $29.77 per barrel, while May futures for WTI crude fell by 10.04 percent to $28.7 per barrel.
