The Trump stock rally, which at its peak a month ago was robust and seemingly unending, has completely evaporated.
The Dow dropped more than 1,700 points on Tuesday, bringing the index below 19,732 points. That was the Dow’s closing level on January 19, 2017, the day before Trump took office.
The S&P 500, which is the broadest measure of Wall Street, is not yet below the key level, but it is moving closer. Trading was briefly halted this afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange after the S&P tripped its 7% circuit breaker.
Global equities have been hit hard by the worries about the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, which has by now infected more than 7,000 people in the United States.
Economists predict recessions for both individual countries and the world economy this year as the pandemic dealt both a supply and demand shock to commerce. That said, expectations for a sharp rebound for the economy and the stock market in the second half of the year are high.