US Stocks Plunge Most In 2 Years As Coronavirus Contagion Grows

NEW YORK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th February, 2020) US stocks tumbled their most in two years on Monday as investors bailed out of risk assets and into safe havens on fears that China's novel coronavirus pandemic might become an unstoppable global contagion.

All three of Wall Street's major stock indexes fell more than 3 percent each, the first time since February 8, 2018.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Wall Street's broadest index, fell 3.6 percent to 27,961.

The S&P 500 index, which reflects the performance of the top 500 US stocks, tumbled 3.4 percent to 3,226.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped 3.7 percent to 9,221.

Monday's meltdown in stocks came after a spike in coronavirus infections in Italy, South Korea and Iran sparked fears that the pandemic was growing fast beyond China, triggering risk aversion that drove investors toward safe havens like gold and the Dollar.