Dow drops 800 points as coronavirus cases outside of China surge

Stocks fell sharply on Monday as the number of coronavirus cases outside China surged, stoking fears of a prolonged global economic slowdown from the virus spreading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 833 points lower, or 2.9%. The S&P 500 slid 2.8% while the Nasdaq Composite traded 3.3% lower. At its low of the day, the Dow was down 997.04 points. The 30-stock Dow is also negative for 2020.

“The second-largest economy in the world is completely shut down. People aren’t totally pricing that in,” said Larry Benedict, CEO of The Opportunistic Trader, adding a 10% to 15% correction in stocks may be starting. He also said some parts of the market, particularly large-cap tech stocks, appear to be over-owned. “It seems like there’s much more to come.”

Monday’s drop put the Dow on pace for its biggest one-day point drop since February 2018, when it lost more than 1,000 points. 

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