US markets crashed at the opening session on Monday following a renewed rout in global markets due to increasingly nervousness over the economic situation in China.
The Dow Jones industrial average traded about 600 points lower after falling as much as 1,089 points in the open.
S&P 500 plunged 73 points after briefly falling 100 points in the open, joining the other major averages in correction territory.
Stock index futures for several major indices fell several percentage points before the open to hit limit down levels.
Circuit breakers for the S&P 500 will halt trade when the index decreases by the following three levels: 7 percent, 13 percent, and 20 percent, from its previous close.
“Fear has taken over. The market topped out last week,” CNBC quoted Adam Sarhan, the CEO of Sarhan Capital. “We saw important technical levels break last week. Huge shift in investor psychology.”
The New York Stock Exchange is invoking Rule 48 for the Monday stock market open, Dow Jones reported.
The rule allows NYSE to open stocks without indications. “It was set up for situations like this,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderich Securities. It was last used in the financial crisis.
European stocks plunged more than 4 percent, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 8.5 percent, its greatest one-day drop since 2007