Markets go wild on European debt worries May 06, 2010 JOHN SPEARS

What was that? For a brief, heart-stopping period, stock markets plunged, currencies went crazy, bonds ran wild and investors ran for cover.

But by the end of the day U.S. stocks had recovered much of their losses, the Toronto Stock Exchange was basically flat losing 32.7 points to close at 11,842.43, and the Canadian dollar, though pummeled, was still intact.

Experts were flustered, but puzzled by the wild action, though they generally pointed to the ongoing Greek debt crisis.

Rumors also circulated that the panicky sell-off had been triggered by a U.S. stock trader mistakenly put in a sell order for 15 billion shares of Procter & Gamble on the New York Stock Exchange, instead of 15 million.

Whether that’s true or not, the stock dived to $40 from $60 within moments just before 2.30 p.m..

The Dow Jones Industrial Index also began a free-fall of about 1,000 points, or 10 per cent, in less than half an hour.

It didn’t stop with stock markets. The U.S. dollar soared, which meant the Euro plunged along with the Canadian dollar.

After rising as high as 97 cents U.S, at one point the Canadian dollar was down almost 4 cents. It finished the day at 95.03 cents U.S.

Pascal Gauthier of TD Economics pointed to the Greek debt crisis as a possible trigger for the turmoil.

Jean-Paul Trichet, who heads the European Central bank, said in Lisbon Thursday that the bank’s governing council had not discussed the possibility of buying government bonds. Many analysts have speculated it might do so, as a means of providing debt-crushed governments with financial support.

“There might have been expectations that the bank might take some measures, though we were of the view that they would not,” Gauthier speculated.

He warned that other days like this could loom ahead.

“On the fiscal side, those economies that were fragile to begin with before the recession like Greece, Italy, Spain are going to be vulnerable, and markets are going to be nervous,” he said.

“This is going to stay with us. This isn’t just a one-day thing.

Camilla Sutton, currency strategist at Scotiabank, said no one was attacking the Canadian dollar. Instead, investors ran for the safety of U.S. investments.

“This story is about the U.S. dollar,” she said. “What we’re seeing is a very strong, strong U.S. dollar, because very quickly people are closing out foreign positions and moving into the deepest capital markets in the world: The U.S. and the U.S. treasury market.”

The Canadian dollar was simply trampled by the rush into the U.S., she said.