A fresh wave of selling pressure rippled across global markets on Tuesday as new evidence emerged about the coronavirus’s spread, and the US, Japan and Italy issued warnings on the impact of the outbreak.
Wall Street’s three main indices each fell sharply, giving up opening gains on a day that saw investor sentiment swing on a near-hourly basis. The S&P 500 was down 1.9 per cent by early afternoon in New York, a day after it dropped 3.4 per cent in its biggest slide since trade tensions rattled markets in February 2018.
As stocks dropped, the US government warned people for the first time to prepare for the coronavirus to spread in the US.