> Seems strange that the market is kinda able to be manipulated like that.
You might consider it manipulation, but these circuit breakers have been in place for a long time now, IIUC ever since the major market crashes of the 80s when there was no way to slow down the drop. The idea is to potentially lessen panic selling by allowing more time for more information to come to light which might mitigate some of the volatility.
Of course, there is no guarantee that better news will surface in the meantime, but even if the eventual slide will be much larger, its better that it takes place over several days to allow counter-measures to be put into place.
You might consider it manipulation, but these circuit breakers have been in place for a long time now, IIUC ever since the major market crashes of the 80s when there was no way to slow down the drop. The idea is to potentially lessen panic selling by allowing more time for more information to come to light which might mitigate some of the volatility.
Of course, there is no guarantee that better news will surface in the meantime, but even if the eventual slide will be much larger, its better that it takes place over several days to allow counter-measures to be put into place.