Canada Stocks Head for Worst Start Since 2001 on China Woes

“The U.S. market is driven by traders, not investors, trying to out guess one another”, Brock said.

The Dow was at one stage down more than 2.5 per cent, which had it on track to post its biggest fall on the first trading day of a year since 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression. S&P 500 e-minis were down 2.5 points, or 0.12 percent, with 255,147 contracts traded. Oil prices soared more than a dollar to US$38.50 before giving back some of those gains because of the concern over China, which looks set to remain a drag on the global economy.

Tokyo – Chinese stocks were down on New Year’s Eve, but the Shanghai market ended 2015 up almost 10 per cent. Shares of fell 1.8 per cent to $13.72 while shares of General Motors slipped 2.6 per cent to $32.43. Still, the market reaction is a reminder that investors will be watching oil prices closely this year. With the steep drop on the day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell to its lowest closing level in well over two months.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) stock on Monday’s pre market session lost -2.64% at price of $101.90. The NASDAQ composite index is up 0.03% while the S&P 500 rose 0.22% in early morning trading and is now currently up just 0.02% on the day.

Specialist Meric Greenbaum works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. “It can be hard to see where the bottom will be in 2016”.

The last time the FTSE 100 made such a bad start to the year was on January 4, 2000, when it sank 3.81pc – its worst new year start in the FTSE 100’s 31-year history. There’s also the unexpected sharpening of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia over the weekend, following Saudi Arabia’s execution of a Shia cleric. Exacerbating investors’ anxiety in China was the implementation of “circuit breakers” that briefly prevented investors from selling their stock.

“The rout in China is placing pressure on markets more globally, although it remains to be seen how long the hit to market sentiment will persist”, said economists at Investec in a note. December sales showed a 17.2-17.4 million seasonally adjusted annualized rate, below the 18.1 million expected (which, if it would’ve happened, would’ve been the first ever four-month streak above the 18 million level ever).

Solar equipment maker First Solar (FSLR) also saw notable strength after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating on the company’s stock to Buy from Neutral. Eli Lilly & Co. rose 2.6 percent, even after indicating that 2016 earnings may be below analysts’ estimates.