U.S. equity markets opened sharply lower on Monday, triggering a 15-minute halt to stock trading minutes after bell rang as investors absorb the latest information on the impact of coronavirus around the world.
The Dow Jones Industrial average was down 1,884 points, or 7.2%, at the start of the session. The S&P fell more than 200 points, which led to the New York Stock Exchange implementing a “circuit breaker” halt in an effort to slow the sell-off process.
When trading resumed, media stocks were battered along with other sectors. Falling oil prices also seemed to add momentum to the panicky environment. The Dow recovered some ground after the break, hovering at around a 1,500-point decline. The NASDAQ was off more than 450 points, or 5.4%.
Disney, Comcast and Netflix were down about 5%-6% shortly before 10 a.m. ET. ViacomCBS shares continued to fall dramatically and were off nearly 10%. Nexstar, WWE and Discovery were also seeing more than 6% declines. AT&T and Fox held up better than most of their media peers with about a 3.5%-4% decline.
Shares of Twitter were down about 3.5% on the heels of news that activist investor Elliott Management has reached a deal with management to ease its public pressure campaign against the social media giant. The pact calls for Elliott to back off its push to replace CEO Jack Dorsey, while the company has also secured a $1 billion influx from private equity giant Silver Lake.
More to come