Massive drop in share price due to corona virus: trading on Wall Street in New York suspended

Because of the corona virus spread, stock prices collapsed on New York's Wall Street on Monday. Trading was temporarily suspended.

• The corona virus is now having a massive impact on the economy worldwide.
• Numerous trade fairs were canceled, flights canceled and hamsters bought in supermarkets.
• The spread of lung disease and an oil price crash caused trading on Wall Street to be briefly suspended on Monday.

Update at 3:31 p.m .: The corona virus and an extreme drop in oil prices caused the US stock market to collapse on Monday. When panic-like sales occurred immediately after the starting bell, stock trading was interrupted for 15 minutes . After resumption of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial recently lost a good five percent to 24,530.08 points and fell to its lowest level since early 2019 . The Dow had lost almost eleven percent in the past two weeks.

Corona virus and oil price crash cause rock bottom on the stock markets

The market-wide S&P 500 lost 5.2 percent to 2819.25 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 declined 4.4 percent to 8159.42 points. In addition to the consequences of the corona virus for the global economy , a drop in oil prices was added on Monday. After failed negotiations by leading oil countries to cut production volumes, the oil market experienced the steepest price slump in almost 30 years.

As in Asia and Europe , stocks in the energy sector came under massive pressure . ExxonMobil lost 8 percent and Chevron 9.4 percent. The price for the US oil grade WTI dropped by almost a fifth. Other industry values ​​were hit even harder: The paper from the oil company ConocoPhillips went down steeply by 25 percent. Occidental petroleum even fell by 40 percent. Service providers and suppliers of oil and gas producers were also affected by the sale : the shares in Schlumberger and Halliburton lost more than 30 percent.

Update at 2:47 p.m .: After the oil prices on Monday morning fell by about 30 percent, there has been a slight recovery during the day so far. At the moment, the losses are still just over 20 percent .

Oil price crash after Opec meeting - the cause is the dispute over the throttling of the production quantities

First message from March 9, 2020:

Vienna / Moscow - The oil price dropped to a record low on Monday morning. It fell more than 30 percent, the largest drop in prices since the Gulf War in 1991. As a result, stock prices on the stock exchanges in Asia and the Gulf States also plummeted.

There are several reasons for the huge drop in prices: the spread of the novel corona virus * , falling demand and, above all, the dispute between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Russia over a further reduction in oil production. On Friday, Opec met in Vienna with the funding countries grouped together in the so-called Opec +. However, the participating states were unable to agree on a restriction of the production volumes at the date. Russia in particular resisted.

#HappeningNow: The 8th Meeting of the #OPEC and #nonOPEC Ministers has commenced at the @OPECSecretariat in #Vienna. #OPECnonOPEC pic.twitter.com/YVh5rXypgt

After Opec meeting, Saudi Arabia announces drastic oil price cut

As a result, the largest producer, Saudi Arabia, announced on Sunday that it would cut the oil price sharply - by up to $ 7 a barrel (equivalent to 159 liters) for deliveries to the USA and by up to $ 6 for deliveries to Asia. If Opec and Russia don't agree, experts warn that the price per barrel could drop to $ 20 .

As a result of the oil price crash , share prices on the stock exchanges in the Gulf States plummeted on Monday. After the Kuwait Premier Index fell 9.5 percent, trading was suspended. Prices fell 7.1 percent in Abu Dhabi and 9.0 percent in Dubai. A similar development had previously been seen in Asia . In Tokyo , the Nikkei index fell 5.07 percent, the worst case since February 2018. Prices in Australia also fell 7.33 percent. This was the largest decline since October 2008. In Hong Kong , the Hang Seng index on the stock exchange fell by almost four percent when trading began. The losses were lower in Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Lower oil price has consequences: Russian central bank suspends foreign currency purchases

The Russian central bank now wants to temporarily suspend foreign currency purchases in response to the slump in oil prices. This should apply for 30 days, the central bank said on Monday to the state agency Interfax. The measure is intended to prevent capital flight and a ruble decline due to the slump in oil prices. The unfortunate consequence: the people in Russia can no longer buy foreign currencies through their banks.

Incidentally, a major change in oil prices recently shocked the stock markets six months ago. You can find more information in the video.

Read also: In November 2018, there was also a significant drop in the oil price. It was an advantage for consumers.

By the way: share prices are not only falling as a result of the drop in oil prices. The corona virus spread is also currently causing enormous problems for the stock exchange. You can read the current economic developments in connection with the corona virus in our news ticker.

AFP, dpa, cia

* tz.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.