US stocks dive in opening trade
NEW YORK — US stocks dived in opening trade Tuesday, following global markets lower after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates and its asset purchase program unchanged.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 139.50 (0.92 percent) to 15,099.09.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 18.27 (1.11 percent) to 1,624.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dived 41.93 (1.21 percent)
The sharp losses in the US followed a 1.5 percent retreat in the Nikkei 225. Equity indices in Britain, France and Germany were each off at least 1.7 percent.
The Bank of Japan’s status-quo moves comes despite interest rate volatility, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
“Central banks around the world are struggling with their communication as they attempt to manage market expectations about their extraordinary support measures,” said O’Hare.
“Concerns that central banks are not going to bow to market demands to keep things propped up creates added volatility like we are witnessing this morning.”
