North American stock market plunges as trading day begins, loonie down – Richmond News

TORONTO — The wild swings on the financial markets continued as North American stock plunged in late-morning trading amid concerns about the impact of the new coronavirus impact on the global economy.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 116.94 points at 16,662.59.

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In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 481.51 points at 26,609.35. The S&P 500 index was down 48.97 points at 3,081.15, while the Nasdaq composite was down 100.42 points at 8,917.67.

The Canadian dollar traded for 74.64 cents US compared with an average of 74.67 cents US on Wednesday.

The April crude contract was unchanged at US$46.78 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down two cents at US$1.81 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was up US$18.20 at US$1,661.20 an ounce and the May copper contract was down 0.3 of a cent at US$2.58 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD=X)