S&P 500 and Dow Jones Plummet Over Coronavirus Pandemic

It was a brutal day of trading on Monday as the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both had their biggest one day percentage losses in two years.

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to send panic throughout the world, investors rushed to sell their riskier assets and turned to safe havens such as gold and U.S. Treasuries. Other countries including South Korea, Iran, and Italy have been reporting the rise in virus cases this past weekend.

The S&P 500 lost $927 billion of its value on Monday and $1.33 trillion since its closing high on Wednesday last week, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices senior analyst Howard Silverblatt.

The Dow dropped more than 1,000 points on the day for only the third time in its history. The Nasdaq fell 3.71%, marking the biggest daily percentage drop of all three major averages.

“We’re not likely to make any progress higher until we have evidence the spread of the coronavirus is decelerating,” remarked Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

It didn’t help investment optimism when Goldman Sachs slashed its U.S. growth forecast on Sunday and predicted a more severe impact from the coronavirus epidemic.

“There was this underlying concern that was out there, and obviously over the weekend, it just escalated,” said Stacey Gilbert, portfolio manager for derivatives at Glenmede Investment Management in Philadelphia.