Dow posts biggest loss since 2008
A 2,000-point plunge. A 15-minute trading halt. And a near-bear market in stocks. No doubt it’s a scary time on Wall Street.
Yet the New York Stock Exchange is stressing that none of this means that anything is broken in the financial system. Investors are simply reacting to the worsening coronavirus outbreak, along with an historic collapse in oil prices.
«I’m seeing markets act normally. They react to uncertainty. They respond to uncertain events. They become more volatile,» NYSE President Stacey Cunningham told CNN’s Julia Chatterley on Monday.
US markets bounced off their lows following the 15-minute trading halt, which was the first time NYSE’s circuit breakers were triggered in their current form. The trading halts are designed to prevent panic selling. The Dow was recently down 1,500 points, or 6%.
«Markets come back over the long term,» Cunningham said. «I don’t mean to minimize when markets move down. We want to protect investors and make sure markets are acting appropriately.»
The recent plunge on Wall Street contrasts with previous episodes where something did appear to be amiss in markets, such as the May 2010 flash crash.
«It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with the market,» Cunningham said of Monday’s drop.
