Dow Sinks More Than 1,000 Points Amid Hard Selling
The Dow slumped 1,003.73 points, or 4.01 percent, as fears of the spread of coronavirus continued to grip Wall Street on Wednesday.
Thursday 12 March 2020 | 02:58
A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, the United States, March 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
U.S. equities plunged again on Wednesday with the Dow plummeting more than 1,000 points around midday, as fears of the spread of coronavirus continued to grip Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 1,003.73 points, or 4.01 percent, to 24,014.43. The S&P 500 decreased 104.33 points, or 3.62 percent, to 2,777.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 242.54 points, or 2.91 percent, to 8,101.71.
All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded lower, with real estate falling 4.54 percent around midday, representing the worst-performing group.
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Fears that continued spread of the coronavirus would slow economic growth rattled investors. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States has topped 1,000.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday that he wanted the payroll tax rate to drop to zero through the end of the year. However, details of the policies remain uncertain.
The lack of a clear roadmap for Washington's proposed stimulus measures to mitigate the impact of the virus added to market jitters.
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday, regaining a portion of the steep losses in the prior session.
On Monday, the three major U.S. stock indexes tumbled more than 7 percent a few minutes after the opening. The massive sell-off triggered a key market circuit breaker and halted trading for 15 minutes.
