Getty Images / Drew Angerer
- US stocks were swept up in a global sell-off on Monday as investors grappled with spreading coronavirus fears.
- The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted as much as 1,080 points – or 3.7% – on Monday. That erased the index’s gains for the year.
- The S&P 500 slid 3.4%, its biggest loss since February 2018.
- Meanwhile, the Cboe Volatility Index – or VIX, widely known as the stock market’s fear gauge – spiked as much as 54% to levels not seen since early 2019.
- The flight out of risk assets and into safe havens sent the US 30-year Treasury yield to a record low, and gold is trading at the most expensive levels all year.
- Read more on Business Insider.
US stocks were swept up in a global sell-off on Monday as fears over the spreading coronavirus – and its negative economic implications – rattled investor nerves.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 1,000 points in on Tuesday for a 3.7% decline. That erased the index’s gains for the year. The S&P 500 tumbled roughly 3.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index lost 3.7%.
Meanwhile, the Cboe Volatility Index – or VIX, which is widely known as the stock market’s fear gauge – spiked as much as 54% to its highest level since early 2019.
The latest sharp move lower comes as the coronavirus outbreak has spread to more than 30 countries. Over the weekend, delegates at the Group of 20 meeting of major economies warned that coronavirus could undermine global growth. The IMF also cut its yearly growth projection for China by 0.4 percentage points.
Here’s how the major US indices closed:
Dow Jones industrial average: Down 1,032 points, or 3.6% – intraday low down 1,080 points
S&P 500: Down 3.3% – intraday low -3.7%
Nasdaq Composite: Down 3.7% – intraday low -4.3%
Every sector in the S&P 500 traded in the red, with the energy (-4.7%) and information technology (-4.2%) indices leading declines.
Advanced Micro Devices – a semiconductor maker with significant supply chain exposure in China – saw the most active trading in the early market and tumbled roughly 8%.
Fear about how coronavirus could disrupt the supply chains and growth of the world’s corporations were also responsible for rattling markets on Monday. Apple, Disney, and Starbucks are some of the highest profile names that have seen disruptions in their businesses because of the virus.
Meanwhile, investors are fleeing to higher ground: Safe-haven asset gold reached $1,687 Monday, the most expensive all year. The yield on the 30-year US Treasury fell to a historic low of 1.8%, while the yield on the 10-year fell to 1.4%, a low not seen since 2016. Price moves inverse to yield.