Dow drops more than 1000 points
Investors dumped stocks Friday morning as the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak raised fears of a possible global recession. The Dow shed more than 1000 points in early trading, down more than 4%. The S&P 500 plunged 4%. The three main stock indexes are set to post their sharpest weekly drop since the global financial crisis in 2008.
Rattling investors: the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside of China, and that has countries around the world preparing for a possible pandemic.
Friday's selling was broad-based. Tech and cyclical stocks led the list of decliners.
Virus fears have wiped out nearly $3 trillion off the combined market value of companies listed on the S&P 500.
Treasury yields also declined. That deepened the so-called yield curve inversion which has historically been an indicator of a looming recession. And traders are now pricing in with greater probability interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Investors got discouraging economic data before the market opened. Consumer spending in the U.S. rose less than expected last month. That loss of momentum could have been exacerbated by the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
