The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the two other indices lower Thursday as the expected massive selloff materialized and saw the Dow plummet 3.58% to 26,121.28 -- a 969.58 point loss. It tanked to a session low of 1,150.
All 30 stocks on the Dow finished in the red with airline stocks taking a particularly heavy beating. Bank stocks also led the major indices lower. JPMorgan and Bank of America both dropped by about 5%. The Dow Jones Transportation Average fell into bear market territory Thursday. United Airlines spun downwards13.4% while American Airlines nosedived 13.2%, suffering its worst day since 2016.
The benchmark S&P 500 took its cue from the Dow, plunging 3.3%, or 106.18, to 3,023.94. The NASDAQ Composite fell 3.1%, or 279.49, to 8,738.60. All 11 S&P sectors finished the day in the red. Stocks plunged sharply lower with the 10-year Treasury yield falling to an all-time low below 0.9%.
The renewed selloff was triggered by fears the Trump administration is bungling its response to Covid-19, which has begun to spread quickly in the U.S. It wiped-out most of Wednesday's steep gains and confirmed markets remain highly volatile as Covid-19 marches forward.
New York state reported a doubling of its confirmed cases to 22 from only 11 on Wednesday, while more than 2,500 people aboard the cruise ship, Grand Princess, is now in quarantine off the California coast after one of its former passengers died from the disease.
"The majority of this is just growing concern about the fallout from the virus because it's spreading," said Tom Essaye, founder of the Sevens Report. "For every hour, another group of people has it and it's in another state. People are getting a bit nervous about this constant barrage of headlines."
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,173.45 points higher, or 4.5%, to 27,090.86. The benchmark S&P 500 jumped 4.2% to 3,130.12, while the NASDAQ gained 3.8% to 9,018.09. The Dow saw its second-highest point gain ever. It was the second time in three days the Dow swung 1,000 points or higher.
On Tuesday, however, all three indices plunged almost 3% lower in a renewed massive rout, ignoring the 50 basis points rate cut made by the U.S. Federal Reserve within the day.
The Dow shed 785.91 points at the closing bell for a 2.94% loss and sunk to 25,917.41. The S&P 500 lost 2.82% to lose 87.14 points and end up at 3,003.09 while the NASDAQ was down 268.08 or 2.99% at 8,684.09.
As of March 5, there were 159 confirmed and presumptive cases of Covid-19 in the U.S. (excluding 24 repatriated cases from Japan and China), including 11 deaths. There are 43 confirmed cases in California and 70 in Washington. New York has the third-largest number of cases at 22 followed by Illinois with 5.
