Trading halted on Wall Street for second time this week after stocks plunge 7 pc at open

Trading halted temporarily on the New York Stock Exchange for the second time this week after Standard & Poor 500 plunged by seven per cent just minutes into Thursday's session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 1,700 points at the open after United States President Donald Trump announced that he would restrict all travel from Europe for 30 days as part of the measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"The travel ban to Europe ex-UK was met with consternation, given that it is likely to put even more pressure on the travel industry and further reduce demand for oil," Kristina Hooper, global market strategist at Invesco, told the Washington Post.

"In addition, we seem to be a long way from the actual passage of a fiscal stimulus package at a time when the stock market is eager to see legislation passed that directly addresses the economic problems created by the spread of the coronavirus and efforts to contain it," Hooper added.

Following the 15-minute trading halt, the blue-chip index briefly fell more than 1,900 points before rebounding slightly. By mid-morning, the Dow was down more than 1,800 points, or 7.6 per cent.

The Global markets had reeled on Wednesday after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

The virus, which first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year, has spread to more than 100 countries across the world, infecting more than 1,20,000 people globally.