STAN CHOE
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks plummeted Monday morning on Wall Street on a combination of coronavirus fears and plunging oil prices, triggering a brief, automatic halt in trading to let investors catch their breath.
The price of oil sank 20% after Russia refused to roll back production in response to falling prices and Saudi Arabia signaled that it will ramp up its output.
While low oil prices can eventually translate into cheaper gasoline, they are wreaking havoc on already struggling energy companies and countries that depend on oil, including the No. 1 producer, the United States.
The war between the giant oil producers came just as Italy heads for a huge hit to its economy as it enforces a lockdown on 16 million people in the northern part of the country,
