The Dow Jones dropped by as much as 900 points on Tuesday but hit a record low fall off following Monday’s drop of 1,000 points – the third-worst in history. The drop off shows the third-biggest daily point drop for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in its 124-year history, only February 5 and 8 this year were worse.
Such is the fear of the spread of the contagion that the stock market dropped by six percent lower than the month’s earlier highs.
The stocks fell as the coronavirus continued to spread worldwide.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has issued a brief to the public to prepare for the disease if it worsens.
CDC official, Dr Nancy Messonnier said: “We are asking the American public to work with us to prepare in the expectation that this could be bad.”
MasterCard also warned about the potential impact of the virus, which sent shares down by more than three percent.
South Korea raised the alert of the contagion to its highest level following more than 800 confirmed cases.
Commenting on the virus during his trip to India, Donald Trump said it was a “problem that’s going to go away”.
Despite the President’s confidence, equity strategist, Simon Powell said: “We find it increasingly hard to believe that USA cases are as low as reported, and believe that given the flow of Chinese, Korean and Iranian nationals into North America, a large USA community-based outbreak is increasingly likely.
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In Europe, Italy has been hit the hardest by coronavirus.
The number of cases in the country has spiralled to 322, with many of them confined to the northern regions of the country.
The country’s Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, blamed the management of a hospital in the northern part of the country for the outbreak.
He told Italian TV: “At this point, we know that the way one hospital facility was managed was not entirely appropriate.
“That certainly contributed to the spread.”
There have been 11 deaths in the country so far but despite that, the Prime Minister praised the health system.
He said on Tuesday: “Our health system is excellent, our precautionary measures are of the utmost rigor and we trust that, by virtue of the combined provisions.
“We will promote a containment effect.”
Eleven towns in Lombardy and Veneto are in lockdown as the virus continues to spread.
Schools across the UK are working to contain the risk of the coronavirus outbreak by imposing closures and recommending self-quarantine for groups returning from Italy.