Wall Street marks its worst day in 33 years

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock market index that measures the stock performance of 30 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States, suffered its worst session since 1987 on March 12, plunging 10 percent as emergency measures by central banks failed to douse mounting recession fears due to the coronavirus. Dow finished down around 2,350 points, or 10 percent, at 21,200.62.
The broad-based S&P 500 index also plunged 9.5 percent to 2,480.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 9.4 percent to 7,201.80.
The March 12 session means the S&P 500, like the Dow, is now in a "bear market," a drop of more than 20 percent from a market peak, ending the longest "bull market" in history.
"Bottoming is a process, it's not a one-day process normally," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist for Prudential Financial.
"Now the idea of a recession is part of the narrative. Are we going into one? And if we are, how deep will it be? Will we have a recovery in the second half?"
Equities briefly cut their losses after the New York Federal Reserve announced measures to inject an additional $1.5 trillion in cash into financial markets.
But the bounce proved short-lived. Emergency measures announced by the European Central Bank also did little to reassure investors in London, Paris and Frankfurt, where bourses lost more than 12 percent.
London Stock Exchange also had its worst day since 1987. Frankfurt had its blackest day since 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell, while Paris suffered its biggest one-day loss on record.
In early trade on March 13, London rose more than six percent, Frankfurt jumped four percent and Paris more than three percent.

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