Stocks – Dow Plunges 3,000 Points, Trump Says Virus Could Last Until August

By Yasin Ebrahim 

Investing.com – The Dow suffered its biggest one-day points plunge ever on Monday and the second-biggest percentage drop as a wave of late selling hit Wall Street after President Donald Trump said the worst of the outbreak could last through the summer and that it was not currently under control.

The fell 12.97%, or 2,997.10 points. The lost 11.98%, and lost 12.32%.

In a blow to hopes the Covid-19 pandemic could be contained sooner rather than later, Trump suggested it could continue into July or August. The president also urged Americans to avoid traveling and gathering in public spaces.

Real Estate and energy led the sea of the red on Wall Street, with latter paced by a 9.5% drop in oil prices on fears of a prolonged slump in travel demand amid the virus outbreak.

Airlines, meanwhile, were given a boost after Trump vowed to “backstop airlines 100%,” at a time when the industry has come under siege as travel demand continues to drop.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:) fell 15% and 6.7% respectively, while American Airlines (NASDAQ:) surged 11.2%.

Financials were also among the biggest decliners, led by Wall Street banks, several of which detailed plans to scrap share buybacks in order to maintain sufficient capital to keep credit lines open to customers.

Several banks, including Bank of America (NYSE:), Citigroup (NYSE:), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:), temporarily halted buybacks for the remainder of the first quarter and the second quarter of 2020.

In tech, meanwhile, Apple (NASDAQ:) fell 13% after the iPhone maker said it would close all of its stores outside of China for the next two weeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus and was hit with a record $1.2 billion fine by French antitrust authorities. Apple and two suppliers were found to have agreed not to compete on prices and distribution.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.