On Monday morning, the S&P 500 plunged seven per cent, triggering a circuit breaker that halted trading for 15 minutes, the first use of the measure since it was introduced seven years ago. Global markets followed suit, tanking after the most significant crash in crude prices in nearly 30 years amid growing fears about the economic impacts of the coronavirus. The Toronto Stock Exchange also halted trading for four minutes at 9:46 a.m. ET this morning after dropping nearly 7.9 per cent; the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down nearly 10.3 per cent, its worst one-day percentage loss since the crash of 1987. (The Logic)

Talking point: At close, the S&P 500 fell 7.60 per cent; the Dow fell by 7.79 per cent; and the Nasdaq was down 7.29 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended 7.30 per cent lower on Monday, while Europe’s FTSE 100 plunged 7.69 per cent—both indices’ biggest plummet since October 2008. The European Central Bank is set to make a policy decision Thursday, in the wake of rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada. UN economists warned of a global slump for the first time, predicting that the outbreak could cost the global economy US$1 trillion in lost income and “depress global annual growth this year to below 2.5%.”