US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-S&P 500 slides 7%, triggers 15-minute trading halt

Reuters
·1 min read

March 18 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 index tumbled 7% on Wednesday, triggering a 15-minute trading halt of Wall Street's main indexes for the second time this week, on fears that stimulus measures may not be enough to avert a coronavirus-driven recession.

Wall Street had bounced in the previous session after the Trump administration pressed for a $1 trillion stimulus package and the Federal Reserve relaunched a plan to buy short-term corporate debt, but the optimism was short-lived with many companies warning of big business impact.

At 12:56 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,660.63 points, or 7.82%, at 19,576.75, the S&P 500 was down 177.29 points, or 7.01%, at 2,351.90 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 462.37 points, or 6.30%, at 6,872.41.

If the S&P 500 falls 13% when trading resumes, it will trigger a level-2 circuit breaker and halt trading again for 15 minutes. (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)