Mark8k8 com register downloadets remain negative on virus threat

For US stocks, Thursday was like Wednesday and Monday of this week:

All major indexes were down, sparked by fears of the coronavirus and all major indexes remained negative in mid-day trading. Only Tuesday was an up day.

The S&P 500 lost 7 percent shortly after the market opened, putting the index into bear market territory and triggering a temporary halt to trading.

In mid-day trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 2,183.83 points, or 9.34 percent, to 21,359.40. Nasdaq was down 8.14 percent. The S&P 500 lost 8.47 percent.

On Thursday's opening, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,732 points, or 7.4 percent.

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended a historic 11-year bull market run by closing more than 20 percent below its all-time high and officially entering bear market territory.

Oil futures, an indicator of future economic activity, declined. Brent crude, a worldwide benchmark, fell 9.08 percent, or $3.25, to $32.51 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate Crude declined $2.18, or 6.61 percent, to $30.86.

Continued declines in the price of oil could make many US fracking operations unprofitable, undercutting the source of the nation's energy independence.

Bond yields edged up as investors sought safety in US Treasury notes.

There is no immediate relief in sight for the market downturn.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, a 30-day forward looking gauge of investor sentiment based on the S&P 500 index options, hit its highest level since 2008.

Trump's decision to temporarily suspend travel between the US and Europe for 30 days as part of the effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus hit airline and leisure stocks hard.

Shares of American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta posted declines Thursday. Cruise line stocks were clipped, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line.

Movie theater stocks were also pounded. Regal Entertainment, Cinemark Holdings and Carmike Cinemas fell. Cineworld group, operator of movie theaters in the US and UK, said it may slash spending and cut dividends as people avoid crowded public places.

Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group acquired AMC Theaters in May 2012 for $2.6 billion. The company, which operates about 11,000 screens in 1,000 theaters, fell about 23 percent in early trading.

The National Basketball Association suspended its season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for coronavirus.

The decision encapsulates fears that consumers will cut back on spending, a potentially disruptive decision because consumer spending represents about 70 percent of the US gross domestic product.

"Consumers setting at home and not out spending money because they fear catching the coronavirus is the ultimate negative outcome," Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said in a research note.

"It has been the US consumer who has been driving the recovery bus during this long expansion."

Investors apparently were dissatisfied by US President Donald Trump's address Wednesday because, in their view, it didn't offer a strong fiscal response to boost economic growth during the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump said the government would provide financial assistance for sick workers, those caring for others or who are quarantined.

"President Trump in an extraordinary Oval Office address didn't offer up major new ideas on stimulus and only said he'd propose a vague payroll tax holiday to Congress without strongly standing up for any size/magnitude, Ernie Tedeschi, a policy economist for Evercore ISE, said in a research note.

"This effectively kicks the issue to Congress which is still planning to go on recess next week."

In an opinion column published in the London Independent, Omar Hassan, co-founder of UK: MENA Hub, said:

"Coronavirus's economic danger is exponentially greater than its health risks to the public. The trillions of dollars wiped from financial markets this week will be just the beginning if our governments do not step in. And if President Trump continues to stumble, it may well affect his chances of re-election."

The feared spread of the coronavirus may temporarily change the way stocks are traded.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the New York Stock Exchange may close its trading floor and use backup electronic trading systems to curb spread of the coronavirus.

The exchange now limits outside visitors who tour the trading floor, including corporate executives who visit to ring the opening or closing bell.

In Chicago, the CME Group said it would close its trading floor where futures are exchanged. That decision may increase pressure on the New York Stock Exchange to close its trading floor, The Journal said.

The New York Stock Exchange closed in 2012 for two days after a major hurricane flooded lower Manhattan.

Nasdaq is computerized and operates without a trading floor.