ADVERTISEMENT

Traders Aren't Panicking Despite Massive Late-Session Stock Rout

Despite the carnage in equity markets, traders across Wall Street say they generally aren’t seeing any panic.

Traders Aren't Panicking Despite Massive Late-Session Stock Rout
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S. (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Despite the carnage in equity markets that started around 3 p.m. Monday, traders across Wall Street say they generally aren’t seeing any panic.

A quick survey by Bloomberg News of 10 sell-side and buy-side traders and money managers did not point to any specific economic or fundamental data point or news as the driver of the late-session plunge in equity markets. Some traders cited quantitative algorithms and sell programs. There was also little demand for new protection as investors monetized hedges by selling puts or rolling strikes down.

The sell-side traders Bloomberg spoke with noted they had very few fundamentally driven accounts selling into market weakness. Others echoed the lack of news behind the moves, with one sell-side trader saying it "feels all ETF driven."

To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Sweeney in New York at ssweeney39@bloomberg.net, Gregory Calderone in New York at gcalderone7@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arie Shapira at ashapira3@bloomberg.net, Courtney Dentch, Catherine Larkin

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.