World stocks slide as China trading halted after plunge

The malaise spread across continents, sending indexes sharply lower in the USA and Europe.

The price of oil sank to its lowest level in 12 years Thursday. Regulators banned large sales, cut interest rates, canceled initial public stock offerings and ordered state companies to buy shares.

Major market indexes in the United States ended the day down more than 2 percent. The Nasdaq has fallen for six days straight.

German stock traders watch as the market is rattle by Chinese volatility. At one point it was down 442 points, or 2.6 percent. Freeport-McMoRan lost 38 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $5.79.

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.

“The U.S. economy and the global economy isn’t crumbling”, said Pyle.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.1% to 20,559.34 and Seoul’s Kospi was little changed at 1,903.14.

Several mining companies also fell along with the price of copper.

The loonie remained near 12 1/2-year lows at 70.94 cents USA, down 0.08 of a cent. In Japan, the Nikkei finished 2.33 percent lower, CNBC reported.

Before the decision was announced Mark Dampier, head of investment research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The system doesn’t work and until it is withdrawn or modified we can expect to see further use and perhaps shorter trading periods than we saw last night”.

The Thursday stock plunge sent a shock wave to European markets.

Financial stocks slumped. Citigroup gave up $2.09, or 4.2 percent, to $48.03.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 164.21 points at 12,562.59 points shortly after 11 a.m. ET.

2016 has started with a series of warning signs about China’s economy.

The Chinese government, which closely controls the yuan, has been allowing the value of the currency to decline steadily as a way to bolster the economy, as a weaker yuan helps exporters, a key engine of growth. China’s economic growth has been slowing for some time; many experts believe growth this year will be below the government’s official stated target of 7pc a year.

“People now don’t have that same deadline to sell…but China’s stock market is going to go where it’s going to go”, said Boockvar. Urban Outfitters climbed 62 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $22.54. Those prices have been falling for years, but gold prices have recovered recently and are at their highest price in about two months.