Dow plunges 1,465 points into bear market as WHO declares pandemic, impatient investors await stimulus package
Bryan R Smith
- US stock indexes plunged roughly 5% lower on Wednesday as traders waited for new details on the White House’s stimulus plan in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
- Losses extended in afternoon trading after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic.
- The Dow Jones industrial average’s plunge saw it close in a bear market, down 20% from recent highs. It marks the official end the longest bull market expansion in history.
- Economic-relief measures were expected to be announced Tuesday, but apart from reports of a payroll-tax cut through November, investors are in the dark about when the stimulus could arrive and what it would look like.
- The decline wiped out most gains made in Tuesday’s rebound and continued the trend of heightened market volatility amid the coronavirus outbreak and the new oil-price war.
- Watch major indexes update live here.
US stocks slid on Wednesday as investors mulled the timeline for the White House’s stimulus measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
All three major indexes tanked roughly 5%, erasing gains made during Tuesday’s rebound. The drop ushered in …continued .
[Source: Business Insider]