Business & Tech

Wall Street Closes As Market Goes Into Nosedive

The market was automatically shut down just minutes after the opening bell Thursday.

Wall Street closed down just minutes after the opening bell Thursday.
Wall Street closed down just minutes after the opening bell Thursday. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

NEW YORK CITY — For the second time this week, stock prices tumbled so sharply at the opening bell Thursday that a circuit breaker meant to slow down panic trading was triggered on Wall Street, halting all activity for 15 minutes.

The S&P 500 fell 7% shortly after the opening bell, triggering an automatic trading halt. Once trading resumes, if the S&P's decline expands to 13%, trading will once again be suspended for 15 minutes. If the drop eventually reaches 20%, trading will stop for the day.

Before Monday, the circuit breakers instituted after the market crash of 1987 had only been triggered once, back in 1997.


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