NEW YORK (AP) – Global markets plummeted Wednesday on fears that the coronavirus crisis is worsening and governments will have to impose strict quarantines that will impede business and commercial activity.
The S&P 500 index fell 2.5% in New York in the afternoon and seemed headed for a third day down.
The week has already contracted 4.6% and could close it with its worst weekly performance since March.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 691 units (2.5%) to settle at 26,771 and the Nasdaq technology fell 2.8%. 95% of the shares in the S&P 500 were losing value.
Markets were plummeting further in Europe, where both France and Germany appear set to impose harsh quarantines to combat the spread of the virus. The quarantines are probably not as harsh as those applied in March-April, but the fear is that they will still force multiple business and store closures and thus hit the world economy.
In Europe, the German DAX index fell 3.9%, the French CAC 40 fell 3.3% and the British FTSE 100 contracted 2.6%.
Crude prices plummeted in anticipation of a sharp decline in demand. US crude fell 5.6% to $ 37.33 a barrel while the Brent blend, which is the international benchmark, fell 4.8% to $ 39.58 a barrel.
The yield on US Treasuries fell from 0.79% to 0.77%.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3%, the Korean Kospi rose 0.6% and Shanghai’s rose 0.5%.
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