Following the initial halt in CSI-300 Futures at the 5% limit down level, the afternoon session opened to more carnage and amid the worst 'first day of the year' in at least 15 years, Chinese stocks collapsed further to a 7% crash. At 1334 local time, stock trading was halted for the rest of the day across all exchanges (at least two hours early).

As Bloomberg reports,

Chinese stock trading was halted for the rest of the day after the CSI 300 Index plunged more than 7 percent.

 

by Keith Weiner

Perhaps it may be lesser known than his other Laws, but Murphy wrote one for the basis analysis. It goes like this. If we observe that the fundamental price of a metal is far removed from the market price, the two won’t likely converge the next week. On the other hand, suppose we say this (as we did last week):

With China closing the morning session limit down, US equity futures are extending their losses (even though crude futures are holding some of their gains). The initial knee-jerk jump as crude rose on Saudi tensions has been entirely erased and Dow Futures are now down 300 points from New Year's Eve highs... Happy New Year.

China closed the morning session "not off the lows" with a bloodbath in ChiNext and Shenzhen...

With Offshore Yuan crashing over 440 pips - the most since the August deval...

Submitted by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com,

Earlier in the session, after the surge in oil prices on fears of a spike in belligerence between Saudi Arabia and Iran, bulls were hopeful that after a poor close to 2015, at least the first trading day of 2016 would set a positive mood: after all, if there is one thing war is good for, it is to lift stock markets. And it did... for about 3 hours.