Wall Street takes worst tumble in 3 weeks as oil crash adds to coronavirus fears
- S&P 500 dropped 3.07 per cent to 2,736.57, while Nasdaq Composite fell 3.48 per cent to 8,263.23
- Dow Jones fell 2.67 per cent to end at 23,018.88 points
Wall Street tumbled the most in almost three weeks on Tuesday as a collapse in US oil prices and glum forecasts by companies worsened fears of a deep economic downturn.
All 11 S&P 500 sector indices fell 1.6 per cent or more, with energy sliding for the seventh time in eight sessions a day after the WTI contract crashed below zero as oil traders ran out of storage for May deliveries.
With the collapse spilling into June futures contracts, equity investors became wary of the extent of the economic damage from sweeping lockdown measures that have halted business activity and sparked millions of lay-offs.
The S&P information technology index slumped 4.1 per cent, while the financial index dropped 3.2 per cent. After many companies pulled their forecasts because of uncertainty related to the coronavirus, investors will focus in the coming days on first-quarter reports for signs of how badly the pandemic is hurting US corporations.
The benchmark S&P 500 index has climbed over 20 per cent from its March low, powered by trillions of dollars in stimulus, but it remains nearly 20 per cent below its February record high due to fears of devastating economic damage caused by the coronavirus.
“When are countries and states going to reopen their economies, and what does that even mean? I’d expect us to see choppy days like this until we get some visibility and figure this out, but that’s going to be a while,” warned Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.