Stock market shudders after false AP report of White House bombing

A fake post on Twitter by the Associated Press resulted in a 128-point drop in the stock market on Tuesday,USA Today reported.

At 1:07 p.m., the AP's Twitter account posted a fake "breaking news update" that read, "Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured."

AP staffers quickly took to the social media service to refute the post, and the news agency's account was suspended. Stock activity returned to normal after the clarification.

"The @AP hack came less than an hour after some of us received an impressively disguised phishing email," reporter Mike Baker said on Twitter.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney downplayed the "report" at his daily press briefing on Tuesday, saying, "The president is fine. I was just with him."

[Image via Agence France-Presse]