Wall Street Loses $2trn in Value on Monday

• Wall Street Loses $2trn in Value on Monday

S&P opened lower on Monday as investors panicked that the fast-spreading coronavirus would erode whatever is left of their assets.

S&P 500 companies lost more than $2 trillion in value during the first few minutes of trading on Monday before trading was automatically stopped for 15 minutes. Investors continue to sell-off their positions even when trading resumed later, forcing the automatic trigger to halt trading again.

This was after the Federal Reserve had lower interest rates by 50 basis points to curb the further decline of the market, raising concerns that until a health-related solution is developed to contain fast-spreading coronavirus, the current global rout may not be ending soon.

“The fear factor is going through the roof this morning,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

“Markets are spooked by the emergency of the central banks stepping in and adding billions of dollars of liquidity.”

Global stocks declined by 8 percent while oil prices dipped by 10 percent on Monday to trade below $30 per barrel for the first time in almost five years. Gold, the usual safe haven, took a hit to $1505 per ounce, down from over $1694 it traded last week.