Continued Concern Over China Volatility Sees Big Losses on Wall Street

Stocks plunged into correction territory on Thursday, with technology shares being battered the worst, capping another day of brutal selling on Wall Street unleashed by a nose-dive in China’s stock market, a slump in oil prices and widening unease about the nation’s economy.

China halted trading in its stock market for the second time this week, as equities plummeted by more than 7 percent in the first 29 minutes.

Losses mounted in afternoon trading as investors braced for another potential drop in Chinese stock markets tomorrow, as new circuit breaker rules will be suspended following their disastrous introduction this week.

European stocks were also at their lowest levels since late August, when concerns over China’s economy roiled global stock markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 187 points, or 1.1 percent, to 16,721 as of 10:25 a.m. Eastern. All 10 S&P 500 sectors ended in the red, though, and the Nasdaq Biotech index.NBI fell 4.1 percent. The Nasdaq composite sank 9 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,680.

Markets around the world are edging higher Friday after China stocks closed up, and as investors turn their attention to the U.S.jobs report.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 30 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,960.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,676 to 410, for a 6.53-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 2,431 issues fell and 418 advanced for a 5.82-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

Crude plunged as much as 4% to $32.10 a barrel, the lowest level since late 2003.

Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker set a hawkish tone on Thursday, saying the central bank may need to raise interest rates more than four times this year if oil prices stabilize, the dollar stops appreciating and inflation surges toward the US central bank’s 2 percent target.

The gains early Friday came a day after the market had its worst drop in three months.

American heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar is seeing sales weakening not only in China but also in Brazil and other countries that dig out the commodities China used to be so hungry for. Zinc also saw losses of 4.1%.

“China’s been such a big driver of global growth for 15 years and now they’re not, and they don’t seem to have a plan for the next 15 years”, said John Canally, chief economic strategist at LPL Financial. Germany’s DAX slid 2.3 percent, the France CAC 40 gave up 1.7 percent, and Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 2 percent. Apple, the world’s largest publicly traded company, dipped 1 percent and touched its lowest price since October 2014. Urban Outfitters climbed 68 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $22.60. Those worries about China have drowned out signs that the economies of the USA and Europe are doing fairly well. Copper producer Freeport-McMoRan lost 45 cents, or 7.3 percent, to $5.72.

The upbeat report suggested that a recent manufacturing-led slowdown in economic growth would be temporary. Analysts expect the USA economy added 200,000 new positions during the month, down a tick from 211,000 in November. Gold advanced 1.4% to $1,107.70 an ounce and bond prices rose as investors scurried to safety.