Dow Jones begins new year with sharp drop

As of 6:00 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 263 points lower, or 1.52% to 17080.

The Nasdaq dipped 0.2 per cent to 4,891, while the S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent to 2,017.

Weaker-than-expected manufacturing data and a falling currency triggered declines in mainland Chinese stocks so steep that authorities halted trading there for the rest of the day.

“You can’t look at one day fluctuation”, says Casey Martin, Senior Vice President-Investments, “In August we saw the market go down a thousand points in one day, we saw them come back for about 300 points before the year end”.

Global stock markets were weaker Tuesday even as China’s benchmark stabilized a day after plunging almost 7 percent. However, Asian markets remained choppy, with the Shanghai Composite Index swinging in and out of losses before closing 0.3% lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-steady-as-china-moves-to-calm-nerves-2016-01-04).

The Nasdaq is down 115.98 points, or 2.3 per cent.

Traders gather at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on 29 September 2008. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 3.1%. Tensions between the Middle East powers have intensified since the Saudis announced the execution Saturday of Sheik Nimr al-Nimr, a beloved cleric among Shiite Muslims known as a voice for free Saudi elections during the Arab Spring protests.

And the selling that began in Asia spread quickly and painfully to Europe. Like a year ago, any signs of a more pronounced economic slowdown in China is a risk to global stocks, including USA shares, Wall Street pundits noted in their 2016 forecasts.