For the second day in a row, China’s stock market opened on a devastating note, suffering its largest decline since February 2007.
The Shanghai Composite index closed at 2,965.149 points, the first time it has ended below the 3,000 point level since Dec. 24, 2014, Business Insider reported.
And now the country’s market is hitting another record: the largest two-day fall since Dec. 17, 1996. In response, China’s cut interest rates – the fifth time it’s done so since November.
China’s market has rippled across the globe, affecting U.S. companies. As WND reported, Wall Street on Monday opened with a 1,000-point drop in Dow. It recovered for a brief period a few hours later, only to slide back down later in the afternoon, spooking investors and sparking political quibbling. President Obama huddled with Treasury officials on Monday for some quick talk about the state of Wall Street.
Also yesterday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a press conference aimed at calming market watchers: “What I would encourage people to evaluate is the ongoing strength and resilience of the U.S. economy.”
Meanwhile, presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina remarked: “”I’ve been expecting a correction for some time now because the fundamentals of the U.S. economy are not that strong. Two percent growth is lackluster.” And fellow GOP presidential contender Donald Trump used the market fall to press home the point: America is too reliant on China.
Stuart Varney, economic expert, agreed with Trump on “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday, saying “we are coupled with China” on the bond market. But he parted ways with Trump’s view that a speedy separation from China’s economy would help America.
“In fact, they have financed our welfare state for the last [few] years,” he said, warning a speedy “uncoupling” would not be healthy for America’s market.
“You can’t just break that connection, just like that,” he said.
