Markets around the world continue to see strong declines amid the economic effects of the spreading coronavirus and the surprise price war in the oil markets, which further fueled uncertainty.

The Wall Street blue-chip index Dow Jones Industrial Average sank by more than 1,800 points at the start of trading on Monday, with the broader S&P 500 writing off 7%. The massive sell-off triggered a key mechanism in the morning trade, which was halted for 15 minutes. This is the first time the measure has been implemented since 2008.

After the resumption of trading, the S&P 500 continued to decline, reaching a decrease of 7.2%.

“Despite people’s concerns that this may create more problems, it will allow trade participants to take a step back and rethink their actions”, said Matt Maley, a strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.

A new 15-minute trading halt will come into effect if losses reach 13% – a drop that will send the S&P 500 to 2,585.96 points. If the decrease reaches 20%, or 2,377.9 points, the markets will close the trade for the day. So far, however, these measures have never been implemented during trading.

The last time the brake was applied at a 7% decline was on December 1, 2008, when the broader index S&P 500 closed the day’s trading with losses of 8%.

Monday’s downswing followed a volatile week for US markets, with the S&P 500 moving more than 2.5% up and down for four consecutive sessions. And while Monday’s lows are significant, the benchmark has not yet made it into the top 20 of its worst one-day performances.

In the meantime, investors continue to reach out to safe assets amid fears that the coronavirus epidemic will disrupt the global supply chain, pushing the economy into recession. Yields on 10-year US Treasuries fell below 0.5% for the first time, and 30-year yields fell below one percent.

Investors responded after Saudi Arabia announced over the weekend that it was cutting oil prices and increasing production despite demand risks in the wake of the global coronavirus epidemic. The decision came after OPEC + countries failed to agree on a new drop in production at the end of last week. The main clash was with Russia, which refused to accede to the cartel’s decision, which strained relations between Riyadh and Moscow.