There was momentary pandemonium in the financial markets on Tuesday after a false tweet, purportedly from the Associated Press, said there had been an explosion at the White House, injuring U.S. President Barack Obama.
Volatile price moves ricocheted through markets, affecting stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities when the tweet surfaced.
When it became clear that the tweet was fake, equities rebounded and more than recovered their losses.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed that there had been no explosions.
(SOUNDBITE)(English) WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JAY CARNEY SAYING:
"And I can say that the President is fine, I was just with him."
Syria's Information Minister, speaking from Moscow, denied that Syria was involved in the incident.
The Syrian Electronic Army - a group supportive of President Bashar al-Assad, claimed responsibility for the twitter hacking on its Twitter feed.
