Dow plunges more than 1,000 points in first moments of Monday trading

Dow Jones average continues sharp decline
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged over 1,000 points (more than 5 percent) in the first moments of trading Monday, before recovering by several hundred points. The benchmark index is still down hundreds of points today. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq opened down more than 8 percent, and the S&P 500 fell more than 5 percent, before recovering a bit.

See more

The stock market took a dramatic plunge globally on Friday, too, when the Dow Jones closed its worst week since 2011 following investors' increasing concerns over China's economic slowdown.

On Monday, China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 8.5 percent, wiping out the year's gains, as a string of weak economic data and Beijing's recent currency devaluation sent investors scrambling to safer assets. China is the world's No. 2 economy, and investors are betting that its economic slowdown is worse than government data indicates.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.