US stocks trade halted for 15 minutes after bruising open

Peter Tuchman, floor trader, reacts as he works on the floor during the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange on March 9, 2020 in New York. [Photo: AFP/TIMOTHY A. CLARY]

The S&P 500 fell(跌 diē) by more than seven percent shortly after trading(交易 jiāoyì) began on Monday morning, triggering(引发 yǐnfā) an automatic 15-minute trading halt(暂停 zàntíng) known as a "circuit breaker(熔断 róngduàn)." Created to prevent(防止 fángzhǐ) a reoccurrence of 1987's Black Monday, when the Dow plunged 22.6 percent in one day, the circuit breakers in place at the New York Stock Exchange are meant to calm investors during severe declines. A second 15-minute circuit breaker is triggered if the market falls by 13 percent and a third if it falls by 20 percent. A 20 percent drop closes the market for the day.

重点词汇 Key word:

跌<动词 v.>

Fall; tumble

E.g. Tā diē dào yòu pá qǐlái.

他跌到又爬起来。

He had a fall but stood up again.

(of prices, output, etc) Drop, fall

E.g. Wùjià měng diē.

物价猛跌。

Prices fall sharply.