Wall Street opens deep in red on coronavirus fears, Nasdaq is down 3%

• US stocks suffer heavy losses on flight to safety.
• CBOE Volatility Index is up 40% on Monday.
• S&P 500 Energy Index is down more than 4%.

Wall Street’s main indexes started the day sharply lower on Monday as investors continue to assess the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy amid upsurge seen in confirmed cases outside of China. Reflecting the flight-to-safety, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, is up 40% on the day.

As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.7%, the S&P 500 was erasing 2.4% and the Nasdaq Composite, which lost as much as 3.5% following the opening bell, was losing 3%.

Energy and tech shares feel the pressure

Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, the risk-sensitive Technology Index is down 3.2% and the Energy Index is erasing 3.5% pressured by a more-than-4% drop in crude oil prices. Finally, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is losing 7% to weigh on the Financials Index. Even the defensive Utilities and Real Estate indexes are in the negative territory in the early trade.