Wall Street plunges on coronavirus pandemic fears after surge in cases outside China
- Dow drops more than 1,000 points, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq also reporting large percentage declines
- Countries including Iran, Italy and South Korea reported rise in infections over weekend
Investors sold riskier assets and rushed to traditionally safer bets such as gold and US Treasuries after countries including Iran, Italy and South Korea reported a rise in virus cases over the weekend even as China eased curbs with no new cases reported in Beijing and other cities.
The benchmark S&P 500 index and the blue-chip Dow turned negative for the year to date and the Dow dropped more than 1,000 points, only the third time in its history for such a large decline in one day. Both the Dow and the S&P clocked their biggest one-day percentage declines since February 2018.
The technology heavy Nasdaq had the biggest percentage drop, down 3.71 per cent.
“We’re not likely to make any progress higher until we have evidence the spread of the coronavirus is decelerating,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.
