“A false tweet briefly sent financial markets veering on Tuesday, in the latest illustration of traders’ sensitivity.

“U.S. stocks and the dollar briefly plunged Tuesday afternoon and U.S. Treasury bonds and gold prices soared, after a tweet from the Associated Press’s Twitter account claimed that there were two explosions in the White House and that President Barrack Obama had been injured.

“Markets quickly swung back after the Associated Press said on its corporate website that its account had been hacked. The White House confirmed that there had been no incident.

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 145 points between 1:08 p.m. EDT and 1:10 p.m., following the erroneous tweet.

“Observers said the episode highlights the growing use by players in financial markets of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and underscores the dangers of security breaches at a time when many investors are quick to trade on news.”

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