Markets in chaos as China halts trading

Stocks are in for a rough ride this year, financial analysts predict.

China's Monday morning jarring halt to trading loomed dark for America's financial sector, as Wall Street's Dow tumbled 300 points – and that was before markets even officially opened for business.

Shortly after opening, the Dow fell 383 points.

The early morning flurry of activity triggered a dark warning from one Fox News financial analyst, who told a national television audience: "Better watch out for your 401K here."

She also predicted during a mid-morning Fox News broadcast "it's going to be a tough year for stocks."

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The first trading day of 2016 began halfway across the world with a volatile start to China's markets, prompting a global sell-off, USA Today reported.

Bloomberg called it the "worst start to the year for China stocks ever," and blamed the weaker-than-expected manufacturing sector. The poor showing prompted a "massive stock market sell-off in mainland China, where shares tumbled more than 7 percent, forcing authorities to halt trading for the day before the normal closing time," USA Today said.

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The ripple effect of the world's second largest economy was felt in America, where the Dow Jones industrial average spiraled 300 points in pre-market trading. Before Wall Street opened, the Standard & Poor's index was 2 percent lower and the Nasdaq, down 2.2 percent.

The Saudi Arabia-Iran tensions aren't helping matters.

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As WND reported, Saudi has booted Iran's diplomats from the kingdom, and market experts say the severed ties and Middle East uncertainties will likely reverberate across energy markets around the world.