Brazil stocks plunge, trading halted in virus havoc

The Sao Paulo stock exchange plummeted 12.5 percent shortly after opening Monday, triggering a suspension of trading for the fifth time in a week as the coronavirus pandemic continued to roil global markets.

The automatic circuit breakers that halt trading in case of sudden plunges in Latin America's biggest stock market have been getting a regular workout as the pandemic batters the Brazilian economy, which is closely tied to China's and highly sensitive to global market swings.

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