Dow Tumbles More Than 1,000 Points On Fears Of Coronavirus Pandemic

by Scott Horsley - Feb. 24, 2020

Excerpt below.

The coronavirus contagion has spread to Wall Street.

U.S. markets fell sharply Monday amid widening concern that the continuing spread of cases could lead to a global pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled nearly 1032 points, or 3.56% All of the major market indexes were down more than 3%.

Stock markets in Europe and Asia were also down sharply.

"This is not a health pandemic yet, but it's rapidly becoming an economic pandemic," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton.

Investors are spooked by the growing number of infections outside China, and the possible economic fallout if the epidemic cannot be contained.

HORSLEY: Numerous business meetings and trade shows in Europe and Asia have already been canceled. That has an immediate toll on airlines and hotels but also a more lingering cost in deals that don't get done. For shoppers and travelers within this country, the fear factor remains fairly muted. Today there have been just 35 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, and only two of those were contracted here.

DAVID KOTOK: So far, in North America, there's been a mild response. People don't walk around wearing masks. They haven't canceled events yet.

HORSLEY: David Kotok is chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors. He's been saying for weeks that the stock market was underestimating the risk of coronavirus. Today he thinks the pendulum may have swung the other way.

KOTOK: One has to now say, is the market now going to extreme? Is it going to panic?

HORSLEY: Kotok is still cautious about the virus itself. He's the rare person in Florida who actually does wear one of those protective face masks these days. He's bolder, though, about the financial contagion. On a day the Dow was losing more than a thousand points, Kotok was buying stocks.

Read (or listen via streaming audio) the full story here: https://www.kunc.org/post/dow-tumbles-more-1000-points-fears-coronavirus-pandemic or visit https://www.npr.org

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