ground to a halt

That led to a quick thaw in these markets, where a week earlier trade had almost ground to a halt.

It has no diplomatic relations and talks about the North's nuclear capabilities have ground to a halt.

The housing market in many -- though not all -- Chinese cities seems to have nearly ground to a halt.

But since the collapse of the bank that led the funding, construction has almost ground to a halt.

The rapid decline of the Y chromosome seems to have ground to a halt at least tens of millions of years ago.

The company's earnings rebounded in the first half of the year compared to the year earlier, when global trade virtually ground to a halt.

The German advance ground to a halt as the soldiers in the frontline infantry regiments reached the limit of their endurance.

CHENGDU: Transport ground to a halt as heavy fog enveloped parts of China Wednesday forcing airports and expressways to close to traffic.

When housing prices began to fall, the bubble burst, and consumer demand and corporate investment ground to a halt.

Indeed, since the end of July, discussions about large private equity takeovers have virtually ground to a halt, say Wall Street bankers.

Only a few years ago the Spanish capital ground to a halt every August, as offices, shops and bars closed for the entire month.

But the competition for talent has by no means ground to a halt, and lower-level hiring is still taking place.

The famed Benguela railway across Angola ground to a halt because of the civil war and foreign invasion, meaning much of it was destroyed.

Around this time, the global economy entered free-fall as the sub-prime mortgage crisis exploded and credit markets ground to a halt.

Traffic ground to a halt at it came to the accident site.

Builders have been through a bruising 2008, as housing activity practically ground to a halt.

Tokyo got off relatively lightly, though most public transport ground to a halt, forcing commuters to walk often huge distances home.

Road traffic between Hunan and Guangdong provinces has also ground to a halt. Jiangxi Province has halted all provincial bus service.

Between the strike and counter strike, transportation and business ground to a halt.

In the US, the boom in trading commissions that powered earnings? in? the? past? year? also? appears to have ground to a halt.

If nuclear power is really as vital to the Japanese economy as has been made out, how come the country has not ground to a halt?

When Lehman Brothers collapsed, emerging economies ground to a halt, forcing government to step in with stimulus.

Irregular migration to the Canary Islands, which was taking in tens of thousands of Africans a few years ago, had almost ground to a halt.

Over the past 18 months, building projects around the country have ground to a halt.

Several high-profile foreign takeovers of Chinese companies have recently ground to a halt.

Non-oil exports have ground to a halt: petroleum now accounts for 92% of its dollar intake.

But the opening ground to a halt following the return last October of 34 PKK fighters to Turkey from Iraq. More were meant to follow.

The mighty US economy, whose appetite for Chinese exports has been an important driver of China's ultra-fast growth, has ground to a halt.

The onions too, once sprouted have ground to a halt, encrusted in frost, perched on the frozen soil.

Amidst uncertainty over broader policy, fresh exploration has ground to a halt.

The train suddenly ground to a halt.

Yes, the economy ground to a halt in the first three months of the year, growing by a mere 0. 6% at an annual rate.

Rapid growth in digital music downloads has ground to a halt in the US, suggesting the MP3 market is reaching saturation point.

There is a widespread shortage of cash so commercial activities have virtually ground to a halt.

By the 1980s, innovation in nuclear power essentially ground to a halt.

In the meantime and even more ominously, economic policy making has all but ground to a halt.

Consumer spending in these countries has decelerated, but not ground to a halt.

New-building approvals ground to a halt, and new construction fell by 40%.

But for various reasons the process gradually ground to a halt.

Diplomats may now be cagier about what they put in cables, but their work hasnot ground to a halt.

Credit froze, and most projects ground to a halt.

But in the meantime, the industry has ground to a halt.

Industry has virtually ground to a halt.

The peace "process" has ground to a halt.

The deal, which ground to a halt in 2007, did little to hurt the fund's prospects in China.

After the economy all but ground to a halt in the final quarter of 2008, output increased by 10. 7 per cent in 2009.

Traffic to both zones nearly ground to a halt soon after the inauguration of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak early last year.

felt repeated jars as the train ground to a halt;