Wall Street Close: COVID-19 Bloodbath, Trump creates widespread panic

• Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down by 2,997.10 points.
• The S&P 500 index fell 324.89 points.
• The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 970.28 points.

Wall Street’s benchmarks dropped again and unwound Friday’s biggest rally on record, dwarfing the moves in fact, with the Dow ending nearly 3,000 points lower on Monday and the S&P once again tripping a market-wide circuit breaker. Late in the day, President Donald Trump called on Americans to avoid gatherings of 10 people or more, sending panic into the markets and US households. 

Subsequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down by 2,997.10 points, or 12.9%, to settle at 20,188.52. The S&P 500 index fell 324.89 points, or 12%, to close at 2,386.13, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 970.28 points, or 12.3%, to finish at 6,904.59. The moves completely wiped out the Friday gains in the Dow of  1,985 points, or 9.4%, S&P 500 rising 230.38 points, or 9.3% and the Nasdaq Composite that gained 673.07 points, or 9.4%. 

• US Pres. Trump: Worst of coronavirus outbreak ‘could be over by July or August or later’

Containment

Analysts at ANZ Bank noted that measures to control the spread of COVID-19 intensified everywhere:

“North Eastern parts of the US have gone into partial lockdown. The EU has proposed a 30-day ban on non-essential travel to the EU, which if agreed tomorrow will effectively be closing its external borders. Germany and Switzerland also closed bars and restaurants. Swiss closures will be in place until April 19th. The UK has advised against all unnecessary social contact and to work from home and not go to bars and restaurants. Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Germany and Switzerland have all taken measures to tighten border controls. These controls will initially last for 10 days, but could be extended for up to two months.”

DJIA levels