By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - The Dow plunged on Wednesday, a day after suffering its worst first-quarter loss ever, as fears over the Covid-19 pandemic intensified with several states going into lockdown to curb the outbreak.
The Dow fell 4.60%, or 1,000 points. The S&P 500 slipped 4.81% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 4.71%.
In a sign of the outbreak is gathering pace in the U.S., Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued "stay at home" order for at least 30 days, with Nevada and Pennsylvania also imposing similar measures just a day after President Donald Trump's grim warning that a "painful two weeks" lie ahead for the U.S.
The ramp-up in lockdown measures in the U.S. comes as New York state, the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., saw a jump in cases 83,712 from 75,795 on Tuesday.
China, meanwhile, suffered a setback after a county in central China’s Henan province went into lockdown, following several infections in the area, Reuters reported. The fresh outbreak comes as some question whether China has concealed the real number of infections and deaths in the country.
China has deliberately under-reported the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country, the U.S. intelligence community told the White House, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.
Defensive corners of the market were unable to sidestep the sea of red on Wall Street, with real estate and utility stocks pacing the broader market decline.
Energy, meanwhile, was also caught up in the selloff storm, pressured by falling oil prices as fears about a glut in supply mount as the U.S. inventories continue to build.