(Bloomberg) -- U.S. equity futures lurched lower as trading opened on Thursday in Asia, with S&P 500 Index contracts plunging as much as 1.9 percent on heavy volume.
Traders couldn’t immediately pinpoint a trigger for a decline of that magnitude, though many cited the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co.’s Chief Financial Officer Wanzhou Meng and its implications for U.S.-China trade relations.
Some market watchers have pointed to a possible fat finger or that trading was distorted by the restart after Wednesday’s closure for cash markets and shortened trading in the equity futures market. The selling pressure was so intense that it forced the exchange to pause trading, data indicated.
Futures pared some of the drop by 8:15 a.m. in Singapore, with S&P 500 contracts down 0.7 percent.
The plunge was the last thing that investors needed, already skittish after Tuesday’s rout and an enforced lull on Wednesday for a day of mourning for former President George H.W. Bush. While liquidity concerns may have played a part, the volatility is another sign the market is on tenterhooks, seeing signs everywhere that the decade-long expansion that has fueled the bull run is in greater jeopardy than economists realize.
To contact the reporter on this story: Abhishek Vishnoi in Singapore at avishnoi4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Sarah Wells
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
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