Dow crashes down more than 800 points, or 1,800 this week, amid coronavirus panic

Fear of COVID-19 coronavirus spreading globally is driving down US stock markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding by almost 900 points before recovering slightly to close at 27,081.36.

Nasdaq composite dropped by 255 points (2.77 percent) by Tuesday closing, while the S&P 500 was down 97 points (3 percent).

Tuesday’s downturn follows Monday’s numbers, when the Dow lost more than 1,000 points and both S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down by more than 3 percent – wiping out most of the gains since the beginning of the year.

The coronavirus epidemic in China has already disrupted global supply chains, but as the virus spreads to the Middle East and Europe, the economic fallout is growing, driving investors to sell.

It takes a “brave soul to be buying these markets,” Chris Weston, head of research at the Australian forex broker Pepperstone, told MarketWatch. “How do we model risk when we can’t even model economics with any confidence?”

President Donald Trump's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow waved off the economic concerns, however.

“This is a human tragedy,” Kudlow told CNBC’s Kelly Evans on Tuesday, but "I don’t think it’s going to be an economic tragedy at all. There’ll be some stumbles.”

He was also optimistic that the US will not be affected, saying that that the Trump administration has “contained this, I won’t say airtight but pretty close to airtight.”

While only 14 cases of the the coronavirus have been officially registered in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on Tuesday that its spread is only a matter of time and that Americans should prepare for “severe” disruptions of daily life in the coming weeks.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!