Coronavirus: Stock market plummets over growing virus fears and potential oil price war

Wall Street halted trading for 15 minutes to calm traders

The stock market took a significant dive on Monday morning amid growing fears of the coronavirus and a potential oil war, forcing Wall Street to halt trading briefly.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,800 points when the market opened this morning. For S&P, it dropped nearly 7 per cent once the opening bell rang on Wall Street.

Trading halted within minutes of the stock market opening because of the significant drop. This pause in trading lasted 15 minutes in hopes the market would stabilise. The next "circuit breaker", halts that are called to calm traders amid losses, could happen if stocks drop 13 per cent, which would lead to another pause in trading.

When trading restarted minutes later, the market stopped steadily declining and was fluctuating between a 5 and 7 per cent drop.

Response from the stock market comes from fears across the globe that the growing number of coronavirus cases will have a significant impact on the economy. Investors are now looking for safer asset alternatives in case the US economy tips into a recession.

Although the circuit breaker was able to help the market from plummeting more, it is still shaping up to be one of the worst days on Wall Street in years.

Problems in the US stock market were mirrored with other economies around the globe. The UK’s FTSE 100 saw its biggest intraday drop since 2008 of 8 per cent, a three-year low for the market. Shares ended sharply lower in Asia as well.

The oil market also plummeted this weekend with Saudi Arabia and Russia competing in price for crude. The price of oil has steadily decreased amid the coronavirus outbreak, signalling to investors a slowdown of the global economy.

To combat the drop, Saudi Arabia prepared to slow the production of its oil to help boost prices. This plan failed once Russia flooded the market with barrels of oil at a cheaper price, further lowering the cost of crude.

A sudden increase of cheap oil onto the market is not as valuable globally. Experts worry this could lead into an oil war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the world's biggest oil producers.

Oil lost nearly a quarter of its value on future markets on Monday following the steady decrease in prices. Typically, a drop in oil can benefit airline companies because they can fly passengers at a cheaper cost. But even airline companies won't experience a benefit as flights have dropped because of the coronavirus.

A production-cut agreement could still happen to avoid an oil war, and the Russians are reportedly open to further talks.