Stocks - Dow's Worst Loss Since '87 Crash; Fed Bazooka Fails to Halt Bears

By Yasin Ebrahim 

Investing.com – The Dow plunged to its biggest-one day percentage loss since October 1987 as fears the spread of the novel coronavirus will pick up pace and usher in a global recession overshadowed the Federal Reserve's bold new stimulus measures to calm funding markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 10%, or 2,352 points, it worst one-day percentage drop since Black Monday when it lost 22.6%. It was the fourth-largest percentage drop for the blue chip index in history, rivaling those seen in 1929.

The S&P 500 plunged 9.5% and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 9.4%.

The rout on Wall Street for the second-straight day comes as investors upped their bearish bets on stocks despite the Federal Reserve unveiling $1.5 trillion in fresh liquidity to combat "temporary disruptions" in funding markets.

The short-term pause in selling following the Fed announcement proved short-lived as investor sentiment on stocks continued to be swayed by the latest updates on the spread of the coronavirus, or Covid-19, which has killed nearly 5,000 people, with infections topping 133,000 worldwide.

In the U.S., where infections are feared to increase in the coming weeks, state-wide bans on large gatherings to limit the virus impact continued, with New York announcing announce a ban on gatherings of 500 or more people.

Against the backdrop of rising infections in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a House committee he was "hopeful" the first trial patient will receive a coronavirus vaccine in a few weeks rather than in two to three months, as had been initially anticipated.

The sea of red on Wall Street was led by a slump in energy as concerns over demand  - as a result of the virus –  were exacerbated after President Donald Trump revealed a travel ban for non-citizens and non-residents from 26 European countries - excluding the U.K and Ireland - into the U.S.

"Instead of instilling confidence, based on the market reaction afterwards, [the speech] had the opposite effect," said Phil Flynn at Price Futures in Chicago. "The talk of an EU travel ban was a blow for energy demand that is already grappling with the double assault of a Saudi Arabia versus Russia price war as well as concern for more coronavirus drop in demand."

Travel and airline also fell heavily, with Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) down 36% and Carnival (NYSE:CCL) down 31%. American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) slumped 17.7% and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) fell 25%. 

In tech, FANG stocks came under heavy pressure, with Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) falling more than 9%, and Google and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) down about 8%. Among the big tech stocks, however, Facebook has been touted as the best bet to weather the storm, according to MKM Partners. But Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)'s exposure to travel-related ads, however, makes the search-engine giant the most vulnerable to downside pressures, as travel demand has soured in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, which has seen governments restrict travel.

Get The News You Want

Read market moving news with a personalized feed of stocks you care about.

Get The App