Dow futures plunge 800 points on coronavirus spread
The outbreak has infected 79,000 globally
U.S. equity futures are pointing to a large decline in stocks on Monday morning on concerns about the spread of coronavirus outside China, with Italy, South Korea and Iran seeing a big jump in infections.
The major futures indexes are indicating a decline of 2.7 percent when trading begins on Wall Street.
Economically sensitive oil is tumbling for a second day. U.S. crude is trading at $51.28, down 3.9 percent. Brent crude is trading at $56.12, down 4 percent.
Safe-haven gold surged more than 2.3 percent to a fresh 7-year high. Currently at $1,687.
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The 10-year Treasury yield has tumbled to the lowest since July 2016 as fears about the global economic impact of coronavirus drive investors to the safety of U.S. government debt. The record low yield for the benchmark 10-year note is 1.3759 percent on July 5, 2016.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended down 1.8 percent and China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 percent. Japan's markets are closed for a holiday.
In Europe, London's FTSE fell 3.4 percent, Germany's DAX plunged 3.7 percent and France's CAC fell 3.7 percent.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 44782 | -128.65 | -0.29% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 6047.15 | +14.77 | +0.24% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 19403.947849 | +185.78 | +0.97% |
The decline is a continuation of the selling the markets experienced on Friday. The S&P 500 index fell 1.1 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.8 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.8 percent.
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People line up to buy face masks at a store in Daegu, South Korea, Monday. (Lee Moo-ryul/Newsis via AP)
South Korea reported another large jump in new virus cases Monday. The 161 new cases bring South Korea's total to 763 cases, and two more deaths raise its toll to seven.
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China also Monday reported 409 new cases, raising the mainland's total to 77,150 after a zigzag pattern of increases in recent days. The 150 new deaths from the COVID-19 illness raised China's total to 2,592 and showed a spike after hovering around 100 for four days. All but one death were in Hubei province, where the outbreak emerged in December.
Tourists wearing sanitary masks walk in downtown Milan, Italy, Sunday. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Significant jumps in cases outside China have raised concern of the outbreak getting out of control.
South Korea has the third-highest national total behind China and Japan, and cases have rapidly increased in Italy and Iran in just a few days.
The Iranian health ministry said there were now 43 confirmed cases in Iran, which did not report its first case of the virus until Wednesday.
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In Italy’s northern Lombardy region, which includes the nation’s financial capital, Milan, the governor announced Sunday that the number of confirmed cases stood at 110. Italy now has 152 cases, the largest number outside of Asia, including three deaths.
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As Italy scrambled to check the spread of the virus, authorities announced that all Carnival events had been called off as well as major league soccer matches in the stricken region. Cinemas and theaters were also ordered shuttered, including Milan's legendary La Scala.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.