Markets Plunge Briefly on Fake AP Terror Tweet
A news agency tweet, that turned out to be fake about explosions at the White House injuring President Obama, sent markets on a round trip roller coaster road.
@AP, the official twitter handle of the respected Associated Press news agency, sent out a message at about 1:07 p.m. ET, saying "Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is Injured." The AP quickly said it was hacked.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, "the President is fine" despite what the hacked Twitter feed said.
However, the market impact was already intense. On the floor at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, traders quickly traded on the tweet, selling S&P futures and buying Treasury 10-year futures. For several minutes, the floor was a flurry of activity, as it was in trading rooms across Wall Street, until the Associated Press tweeted that its account had been hacked.
The Dow plunged more than 140 points and bond yields fell. Within six minutes, the Dow recovered its losses and was trading with triple-digit gains.
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