Dow crashes down more than 800 points, or 1,800 this week, amid coronavirus panic

Fear of COVID-19 coronavirus spreading globally is driving down US stock markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding more than 800 points before recovering slightly.

Nasdaq composite dropped more than 232 points by Tuesday afternoon, while the S&P 500 was down almost 89 points.

DEVELOPING: Dow down more than 800 points Tuesday amid global coronavirus concerns; Dow has now dropped more than 1,800 points this week.

Latest: https://t.co/vNpL0T9nWz pic.twitter.com/U3l6NUJjXM

— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 25, 2020

Tuesday’s downturn follows Monday’s numbers, when the Dow lost more than 1,000 points and both S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down by more than 3 percent – wiping out most of the gains since the beginning of the year.

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The coronavirus epidemic in China has already disrupted global supply chains, but as the virus spreads to the Middle East and Europe, the economic fallout is growing, driving investors to sell.

Dow never goes up 1,800 points in 2 days. But it will take 2-3 months to get it back. Funny how that works

— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) February 25, 2020

It takes a “brave soul to be buying these markets,” Chris Weston, head of research at the Australian forex broker Pepperstone, told MarketWatch. “How do we model risk when we can’t even model economics with any confidence?”

While only 14 cases of the the coronavirus have been officially registered in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Tuesday that its spread is only a matter of time and that Americans should prepare for “severe” disruptions of daily life in the coming weeks.

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