The market storm that has engulfed Wall Street to start 2016 is again taking aim at stock investors as the Dow plunged almost 400 points at the open Friday as increasingly jittery traders react to the latest swoon in oil prices and another big selloff in Chinese stocks overnight. In a replay of other big down days so far in the new year, yesterday’s rebound on Wall Street turned out to be short-lived, as a nearly 6% slide in U.S. produced crude sent prices back down below the key $30 a barrel level.
Adding to investor angst was another big stock market slide in mainland China, where the Shanghai composite slid 3.6%, putting it back in bear market territory, or more than 20% from its recent high. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged about 350 points, or 2.1%, and S&P 500 dropped 2%. The Nasdaq composite index tumbled 2.5%. BlackRock CEO and Chairman Laurence Fink in a Friday appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” characterized the current financial conditions as “a real market decline, bordering on a bear market.” FULL REPORT
