By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - Stocks plunged in late selling Thursday as fears of a global pandemic intensified.
The S&P is on pace for its worst weekly loss since the Financial Crisis as investors feared a jump in coronavirus infections in the U.S. could derail economic growth. The S&P 500 closed down. 4.4%,
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down nearly 1,200 points, or 4.4% and Nasdaq Composite slumped 4.6%.
As the coronavirus epidemic widens globally, with new infections reported in Europe, U.S. and the Middle East, investor sentiment on stocks continues to sour, triggering a wave of selling on Wall Street.
In the U.S., California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is monitoring at least 8,400 people for Covid-19, with 28 people confirmed to have contracted the virus.
Just a day earlier, the CDC confirmed the first infection to a patient in California who did not have “relevant travel history or exposure to another known patient,” stoking fears health authorities would struggle to contain the outbreak. In Italy, the cases continue to mount, surging to 650 from 520 cases reporting this morning.