Wall Street trading halted after opening bell on deep losses

Trading on Wall Street was halted immediately after the opening bell Monday, as stocks posted steep losses following emergency moves by the Federal Reserve to try to avert a recession due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Just after the opening bell, the S&P 500 was at 2,490.47, a drop of 8.1 percent and beyond the seven percent loss that automatically triggers a 15-minute trading halt.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.7 per cent, or around 2,250 points, to 20,935.16, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 6.1 per cent to 7,392.73.