NEW YORK: Shares of Boeing plummeted by more than 12 percent on Monday in premarket trading, the day after the crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 in Ethiopia killed 157 people.
The crash was the second in less than six months to involve the popular model of an airliner, causing air carriers in Ethiopia, China and Indonesia to ground the jets pending investigations.
Toward 1300 GMT, Boeing, a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, had dropped 12.3 per cent to USD 371.32 a share, dragging down futures for the Dow and helping put Wall Street on track for a sixth day and threatening to wipe as much as USD 30 billion from Boeing's market capitalization.
The Nairobi-bound plane -- the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed in October, killing 189 passengers and crew -- smashed into a field just six minutes after takeoff as the pilot alerted controllers of "difficulties."
Boeing has described the MAX series as its fastest-selling airplane ever, with more than 5,000 orders placed to date from about 100 customers.
State-owned Ethiopian Airlines had ordered 30 MAX 8 jets in total, and China has received 76 from an order of 180.