Stock futures continue steep plunge on coronavirus fears

U.S. equity futures are pointing to another large drop in shares, deepening a global rout after Wall Street endured its biggest one-day drop in nine years.

The major futures indexes are indicating a decline of 1 percent, but overnight, Dow futures were down by more than 400 points.

This follows the largest one-day decline for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in history as stocks fell for a sixth day.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	43750.86	-207.33	-0.47%
SP500	S&P 500	5949.17	-36.21	-0.60%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	19107.65077	-123.07	-0.64%

The Dow plunged 1,190.95 points,  bringing its loss for the week to 3,225.77 points, or 11.1 percent. To put that in perspective, the Dow's 508-point loss on Oct. 19, 1987, was equal to 22.6 Percent.

The S&P 500 fell 4.4 percent to 2,978.76 and is 12 percent below its high. Its six-session skid since the record marked the fastest-ever descent into a correction from an all-time high.

The U.S. losses extended a slide that has wiped out gains major indexes posted this year.

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European markets are looking at large percent declines. London's FTSE slipped 2.9 percent, Germany's DAX fell 3.4 percent and France's CAC dropped 2.7 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei tumbled 3.7 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.4 percent and China's Shanghai Composite lost 3.7 percent.

Investors who had been confident the coronovirus that emerged in China was under control have been jolted by outbreaks in Italy, South Korea and Iran. They worry the virus is turning into a global threat that might derail trade and industry.

A growing list of major companies are issuing profit warnings and say factory shutdowns in China are disrupting supply chains. They say travel bans and other anti-disease measures also are hurting Chinese consumer spending.

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U.S. bond prices soared as investors fled to safe investments. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell as low as 1.246 percent, a record low, according to TradeWeb. When yields fall, it's a sign that investors are feeling less confident about the strength of the economy.

China shut down much of its economy to stem the spread of the infection.

Most access to the city of Wuhan, a manufacturing hub at the center of the outbreak, was suspended Jan. 23. The Lunar New Year holiday was extended to keep factories and offices closed. The government told the public to stay home.

Authorities are shifting to trying to reopen factories and other businesses in areas with low disease risk but travel controls still are in effect in many areas.

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Elsewhere, governments are tightening anti-disease controls as new cases mount.

Japan will close schools nationwide. Saudi Arabia banned foreign pilgrims from entering the kingdom to visit Islam’s holiest sites. Italy has become the center of the outbreak in Europe, with the spread threatening the financial and industrial centers of that nation.

Goldman Sachs on Thursday said earnings for companies in the S&P 500 index might not grow at all this year, after predicting earlier that they would grow 5.5 percent.

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Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.45 to $45.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.64 on Thursday to settle at $47.09. Brent crude oil, used to price international oils, sank $1.25 to $50.93 per barrel in London. It declined $1.25 the previous session to $52.18 a barrel.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.