'It's a bloodbath': Stocks plummet even further as coronavirus chokes US economy

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to plunge on Thursday, down a massive 1,192 points, or 4.42% to 25,762, as fears about the impact of the coronavirus on the economy continued.

This is the Dow’s largest one-day point decline in history, surpassing Monday’s 1,031-point drop.

The S&P 500 fell 4.4% while the Nasdaq dropped 4.6% —also both of their largest one-day point declines.

Attempts by the Trump administration to calm market fears over the spread of the virus within the US were thwarted by headlines including that California is monitoring 8,400 people for potential infection.

By mid-morning the Dow was down 900 points. After fighting back some of those losses in the early afternoon it continued to plummet.

Today's losses put the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq in correction territory — down more than 10% from their record closes — it took the Dow just 10 sessions to fall into correction.

CNBC reports that both the Dow and the S&P 500 had their worst day since February 2018, while the Nasdaq posted its biggest one-day loss since August 2011.

Three of the five largest points drops in the history of the Dow have happened this week — Monday, Tuesday and today.

The largest percentage falls in the value of the market were in the 2008 global financial crisis and when markets reopened following 9/11 — all were in the 7 to 7.8 per cent range.

Investor fears are being driven both by complete uncertainty as to whether the virus will become widespread in the US. This has combined with the growing realisation of how much the Chinese economy is being impacted and the subsequent effect on global supply chains.

Donald Trump held a press conference on Wednesday night in which he appointed vice president Mike Pence to lead the government's response. Officials at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said it is a matter of when, not if, the US sees serious illnesses. The president continues to downplay the threat of a widespread outbreak.

Reuters reports that the International Monetary Fund is likely to downgrade its growth forecast as result of the fast-spreading virus.

“Clearly the virus is going to have an impact on growth,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told a regular briefing. He gave no specific details.

Mr Rice also said that he expected a decision soon on the impact of the coronavirus for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in April, noting that a range of options were under consideration. Officials are considering scaling back the meetings or holding them by teleconference.

Facebook has cancelled its F8 developer conference, the biggest event of its the year, over health concerns. This year it will be replaced by smaller local events and online content.