Chinese market suspensions crimps Wall Street

WALL Street has endured its worst start to the year in more than a decade following the suspension of Chinese share trading yesterday.

Stock markets around the world tanked after weak Chinese economic data reignited fears of a global economic slowdown.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.6 per cent to 17,149 by the close, after a late rally saw off worse falls.

The Dow was at one stage down more than 2.5 per cent, which had it on track to post its biggest fall on the first trading day of a year since 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression.

The broader benchmark S&P 500 index slid 1.5 per cent to 2,013, while the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 2.1 per cent to 4,903 - it was the worst start to a year for both those indices since 2001.

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