A typing error by a sharemarket trader may have been responsible for the US equity market crashing by nearly 1000 points overnight.
CNBC is reporting that a trader entered a "b" for billion instead of an "m" for million in a trade involving US consumer goods giant Procter and Gamble.
The dive sent shock waves around global financial markets as $US1 trillion ($1.1 trillion), or 9 per cent, evaporated from US share values in minutes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average later recovered some of the losses but still closed more than 3 per cent lower.
