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Friday, March 29, 2024

Wall St. extends plunge as coronavirus spreads

Duration: 01:54s 0 shares 2 views

Wall St. extends plunge as coronavirus spreads
Wall St. extends plunge as coronavirus spreads

U.S. stocks tumbled for a sixth consecutive session as the rapid spread of coronavirus fueled global economic growth fears.

Conway G.

Gittens reports.

U.S. stocks took another nasty tumble on Thursday- with the Dow plunging as many as 900 points early in the session… As 47 countries report cases of coronavirus.

This selling spree has been so severe that in one week, stocks have gone from record highs to correction territory - that's a plunge of more than 10 percent.

The selling onslaught did not let up even as President Trump the day before tried to downplay market fears and blamed the Democrats for unnerving investors.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: "I think financial markets are very upset when they look at the Democrat candidates standing on that stage making fools out of themselves and they say if we ever have a president like this - and it's always a possibility - it is an election.

But when they look at the statements made by the people standing behind those podiums. I think that has a huge effect." The selling resumed Thursday from the get-go: investors fleeing stocks as the virus spreads to more countries - and with the U.S. reporting its first case of an unknown origin-- upping the chances the virus could have a long-lasting negative impact on the global economy.

Adding to that fear: Tech giant Microsoft said it does not expect to meet sales forecast this quarter for its Windows and personal computer business because supply chains are strained in Asia.

The economic outlook has darkened so severely, Goldman Sachs is now predicting U.S. companies will see zero earnings growth this year... And Bank of America slashed its global growth forecast to the lowest since the financial crisis.

All that is fueling angst across Wall Street.

Investors looking for a safe place to hide their cash flocked to the perceived safety of U.S. government debt.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year note fell to a record low for the third straight day.

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