By 11am on Monday, the atmosphere on the London trading floor of spread-betting firm ETX Capital was electric.
Extra staff had been drafted in amid a surge in trading after
oil prices plunged overnight and
European markets tumbled due to coronavirus fears.
The usual day team of two or three traders had bulked up to nearly a dozen. Traders at the Liverpool Street office were glued to their phones, behind a wall of screens, their voices being drowned out by terminals bleating out alerts – dings, slide whistles and simulated space gun blasts – signalling fresh market moves and a flurry orders from clients.
“We’ve not seen anything like this since the financial crisis,” said Michael Baker, who leads ETX Capital’s sales team.
The firm blocked small investors from buying US stock futures due to fears that retail clients would lose too much money by taking a punt and buying on the dip. It ended up being the right call – with US futures plunging further once limits on sales were temporarily removed.