US: Dow tumbles amid coronavirus selling panic

NEW YORK

Stock values in the United States tumbled again on Monday despite a Federal Reserve decision to cut interest rates and allay investor fears over a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed almost 7,000 lives globally.  

The Dow Jones stock market index fell by almost 3,000 points — representing a 12.9 percent drop and the worst single day of losses the U.S. economy has seen since 1987 in a worrying sign of a nearing recession. 

The markets fell despite moves by the Federal Reserve on Sunday to cut interest rates and keep the economy liquid by announcing a big fiscal stimulus package akin to the “quantitative easing” technique used after the 2007-08 financial meltdown. 

Investors were selling off shares on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump said the national coronavirus emergency may last throughout the summer and that the “invisible enemy” could push the U.S. economy into recession. 

Over the next 15 days, Americans have been advised not to gather in large groups and to avoid bars, restaurants and food courts. In many parts of the country, local officials have shuttered eateries and schools and canceled sporting events. 

So far, the U.S. has recorded 4,200 cases of the virus and 71 deaths. 

Trump declared a national emergency Friday in an attempt to thwart the virus' spread in the U.S. Globally, the World Health Organization has registered about 165,000 cases with the global death total of some 6,500.