- Title: Oil and coronavirus mix a 'perfect storm' for a shaky day on market - trader
- Date: 9th March 2020
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MARCH 9, 2020) (REUTERS) NYSE EXTERIOR VARIOUS OF SIGN READING (English) 'WALL STREET' VARIOUS OF NYSE TRADER, QUATTRO SECURITIES, FLOOR BROKER, PETER TUCHMAN, TALKING ON PHONE STOCKS TICKER (SOUNDBITE) (English) NYSE TRADER, QUATTRO SECURITIES, FLOOR BROKER, PETER TUCHMAN, SAYING: "Look, you've got one of the most powerful commodities in the hands of two of the largest superpowers in the world, and they are not agreeing on it. And you throw that on top of a market that's full of anxiety about the potential economic global slowdown due to the virus, which I don't even think we've seen yet, and you end up with a perfect storm. That's what we have in there today."
- Embargoed: 23rd March 2020 16:05
- Keywords: Dow Jones Industrial Average Nasdaq Composite OPEC S&P 500 coronavirus equities global recession halted trading markets oil crash stocks virus fears
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Economic Events,Equities Markets
- Reuters ID: LVA002C4C0B47
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Wall Street's main stock indexes plummeted and the Dow Jones Industrial crashed 2,000 points on Monday (March 9) as a 20% slump in oil prices and the rapid spread of the coronavirus amplified fears of a global recession.
"You've got one of the most powerful commodities in the hands of two of the largest superpowers in the world, and they are not agreeing on it," said Peter Tuchman, a trader on the New York Stock Exchange's floor and broker for Quattro Securities. "And you throw that on top of a market that's full of anxiety about the potential economic global slowdown due to the virus, which I don't even think we've seen yet, and you end up with a perfect storm. That's what we have in there today."
Trading was halted immediately after the opening, as the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX tumbled 7% to its lowest since June 2019, triggering an automatic 15-minute cutout originally put in place to avoid a repeat of the "Black Monday" crash in 1987, when the Dow slumped nearly 23%.
"The market stopped for 15 minutes. And what does that do? It gives people a chance to sort of stabilize, get the buyers who are interested involved, sellers interested involved, disengage from the emotionality of the panic mode, and try and get a sense of really what's going on," Tuchman said.
After scaling record highs as recently as three weeks ago, the S&P 500 is now only about 2.5% away from moving into bear market territory, in one of the most dramatic turnarounds in living memory.
"Well, in the short term, I think we should be worried," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities. "But I also believe that even if we go into bear market territory, I don't think it'll be long-lasting."
Wall Street's fear gauge VIX, halted for the first half hour after opening, jumped to its highest level since the 2008 crisis, while the Nasdaq Composite was on track for its biggest one-day percentage fall since 2011.
(Production: Andrew Hofstetter, Catherine Koppel, Aleksandra Michalska) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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