The Dow was down more than 400 points on Monday morning.
On Monday, the Dow dropped 406 points after coronavirus fears escalated over the weekend. The S&P 500 is also down 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.8%.
So far, 81 people in China have died as a result of the coronavirus. And there are now five confirmed cases in the U.S.
China is a huge driver of global growth, and the uncertainty of the illness or its impact is having a huge negative impact on the market.
What stocks have been hit hardest?
So far, travel and airline stocks have been hit the hardest by fears over the virus. Stocks with significant exposure to China have also been negatively affected.
United and Delta both dropped more than 4% and American saw its stock fall by 5.7%. Expedia, Carnival, and Marriott saw their shares drop by more than 2%. Apple, Disney, and Nike all have significant exposure to China and dropped more than 2%.
Oil prices are dropping as well as investors try to assess how travel restrictions will impact the demand on energy. In comparison, gold shares are rising since many investors resort to this in times of economic trouble.
It’s still unclear how big of a global impact the coronavirus will have. The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) is traveling to China this week to meet with government officials and learn more.
Final thoughts
Fears over the coronavirus have been growing since last week. Last week marked the first time stocks have declined in the past year.
However, most experts still agree that there’s no need to panic over the virus. Most of the deaths related to the disease have occurred in individuals over the age of 50 with underlying medical problems. And Chinese officals have done a good job of alerting government officials and the public about the outbreak.
WHO officials have stated that the virus is not yet a public emergency, though it could become one. But the virus will likely continue to cause market uncertainty and concern in the coming weeks.
