NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2020) Wall Street's bull run, which defied an anemic world economy since last year, appears virtually over as two leading US stock indices post their first monthly loss in five months amid the global markets meltdown from China's coronavirus crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the New York Stock Exchange's broadest gauge, plunged 605 points to close down 2 percent on Friday as China's economy remained crippled by the coronavirus epidemic that has killed more than 200 people and infected about 10,000.
Just weeks ago, US stocks were hitting record highs as upbeat domestic economic data and a pre-presidential-election rally helped Wall Street weather a tottering global economy.
All that changed this week as the Dow closed January down 1 percent, for its first monthly loss since August. The Dow finished 2019 up 23 percent.
Wall Street's S&P 500 index, a barometer for the top 500 US stocks, also posted its first monthly loss in five months, falling 1.5 percent on Friday. Last year, the index for top 500 US stocks rose 30 percent.
With January's close, the only redeeming sector on Wall Street seemed to be technology, with the leading index for tech stocks, the Nasdaq Composite, still showing a gain for 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.6 percent on Friday, but remained up 2 percent for the year. It finished 2019 up 36 percent.
