Chinese stocks were also halted for the day on Monday morning.
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China invoked the circuit-breaker after a drop in the CSI 300 on Thursday – a benchmark of the largest 300 stocks listed in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets which fell 7.3 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.
The US stocks slumped for a second straight day on Thursday as global markets rout and falling oil prices continued to weigh on the Wall Street.
The Dow has lost 5.2 percent since the end of 2015 in the worst first four trading days since the 30-stock index was created in 1928. China’s stock markets have little connection to the rest of its economy, but two sharp price declines this week have focused attention on the slowdown in Chinese growth.
US government bond prices rose Wednesday. Chinese stocks were volatile Friday and other Asian markets rebounded after a plunge in Chinese prices rattled global markets.
Still, Japan and Europe do a lot more business in China than the US does, and as a result, they face higher risks. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 21 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,969. The CAC-40 in France underperformed, trading 0.3 percent lower at 4,390. At 49.0, up from November’s nine-month low of 48.5, the headline reading signaled another modest decrease in sales in the final month of the year. It comes as Chancellor George Osborne warns of a “dangerous cocktail” of threats to the United Kingdom economy, at a speech in Cardiff. To make matters worse, he said, the markets don’t have many facts to go on. Canally says investors don’t know if the Chinese government is doing a good job of managing the nation’s economy.
China’s tumbling stock prices are, in themselves, nothing for investors outside the country to panic over. That could mean lower demand for energy in the world’s second-largest economy. The currency devaluation may help boost growth, but it can hurt asset values and cause money to exit the country. (PXD) fell 7.5% after the oil exploration company late Tuesday announced a 10.5-million-share offering.
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) finished 0.5% lower after major shareholder Starboard said shareholders had lost confidence in Yahoo’s management and board (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yahoo-urged-to-change-management-board-and-strategy-in-starboard-letter-2016-01-06).
The markets have endured a rough few days to start 2016, and J.J. Kinahan, chief markets strategist for TD Ameritrade, said that’s making bonds more appealing to investors. The stock lost $22.36, or 5 percent, to $426.67.
London’s leading share index added more than 50 points to edge above 6,000 in early trading though it later slipped back below that mark as the strength of the gains faded. “Many would argue it’s the beginning of a bear market”, Tim Anderson, managing director of MND Partners, wrote in a client note.
Nicholson said, “It’s hard to see the circuit-breakers surviving long in their current form, given they only seem to be further contributing to the volatility in the Chinese market”.
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The Shanghai Composite Index gained about 3 percent when it opened but quickly surrendered those gains to be down 1 percent at 3,096.82. Stocks rose in Taiwan and were mixed in Southeast Asia. It sank 70 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $33.27, its lowest close since February 2004. The contract on Thursday dropped $2. Oil prices slipped one percent to $33.65 a barrel, briefly trading at 12-year lows. The dollar fell to 117.750 yen from 118.38 yen. The euro weakened to $1.074 from $1.0744.
