US Stocks Slide More Than 3%, Extending Dow's Tumble to Below 20,000 Points

NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2020) The sell-off in US stocks continued on Thursday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 3 percent in early trade to extend its slide to below 20,000 points as US economic activity began shutting down in a major effort to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Dow, the broadest equities gauge on the New York Stock Exchange, closed down 3.

6 percent, or 706 points, to 19,193 by 9:50 a.m. ET ( 13:50 GMT). On Wednesday, it settled below the 20,000-point mark for the first time in three years, virtually wiping out all of its gains since Donald Trump came into office.

The S&P500, barometer for the top 500 US stocks, was down 3.2 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 1.8 percent.

The Dow and S&P500 are down about 30 percent on the year while the Nasdaq has lost more than 20 percent for 2020.