No Respite in Stock Selloff
Continuing on the sell-off from yesterday, US stocks have continued to drop, with the NASDAQ 100 falling by a further 140 points from the previous trading session. This is a 1.52% drop for the day, and a drop of 7% since the beginning of the week.
The Dow Jones also dropped another 870 points, a plunge almost as bad as the previous day’s fall of almost 1000 points.
Investors are undeniably panicked and fearful as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world at a concerningly rapid pace, and US officials are warning residents to brace for significant disruption as they prepare for it to hit their shores.
There seemed to be a brief recovery for the NASDAQ over the course of yesterday back to the 9,200 mark, but it was not enough to reverse the sharp losses incurred and today has continued to drop, falling below 9,000 and currently trading at 8,900 points.
Similarly, with the cases in South Korea and Japan, the Asian markets have plummeted as well. The Nikkei, Japan’s stock index, is down 3.3%, and the Shanghai Composite 2%.
In Japan, with the Diamond Princess cruise ship still under quarantine, a 4th person has died. South Korea is also struggling to contain their outbreak as they are now the country with the highest number of cases outside of China, almost reaching 1000.
The virus has rapidly contaminated other parts of the world, with it currently spreading rapidly across the Middle East. Iran has reported 95 confirmed cases, but it is suspected that the actual number is higher. The center of the outbreak is Qom, a shrine city with lots of passing travelers. Iran’s deputy health minister has said that he has contracted coronavirus, after just speaking to reporters on Monday and denying that Iran was covering up the severity of the outbreak in their country.
In Europe, Italy continues to be the site of the biggest outbreak, with an 11th person having now died. Germany and Spain have just recently also confirmed new cases as well, although no deaths yet. Germany’s cases seem to have originated from a man who came back from holiday in Milan on Tuesday.
For more information, watch our video by Anish Lal here at BlackBull Markets, or on Instagram and Twitter at BlackBull_markets and @BlackBullforex, respectively.
