US: Stocks trade halted for 15 minutes after bruising open

[NEW YORK] Trading on Wall Street was temporarily halted early Monday as US stocks joined a global rout on crashing oil prices and mounting worries over the coronavirus.

The suspension was triggered after the S&P 500's losses hit seven per cent. Near 1340 GMT, the broad-based index was down more than 200 points at 2,764.21.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 7.3 per cent to 23,979.90, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.9 per cent to 7,987.44.

AFP