NEW YORK, March 9 — Trading on Wall Street was temporarily halted early today as US stocks joined a global rout on crashing oil prices and mounting worries over the coronavirus.

The suspension was triggered after the S&P 500’s losses hit seven per cent, with trading resuming after 15 minutes.

Near 1400 GMT, the broad-based S&P 500 was down 6.6 per cent at 2,776.47.

The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 6.9 per cent to 24,087.20, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.2 per cent to 8,042.17.

After two difficult weeks amid rising worries over the virus, markets appeared to enter a new phase of worry early today after oil producers failed to reach an agreement on a pact to limit output, sending oil futures crashing.

The virus itself continued to prompt major economic dislocations, as Italy imposed a month-long lockdown on the country’s northern region and additional major sporting events were cancelled, along with concerts and industry conferences.

The International Monetary Fund called for "substantial” stimulus and international coordination to counteract the economic impact of the spreading coronavirus epidemic, while the New York Federal Reserve Bank announced it will increase its daily injections of cash into financial markets by US$50 billion to US$150 billion to boost market liquidity. — AFP