narvikk/iStock(NEW YORK) — Trading for futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were temporarily halted Thursday in premarket trading after plummeting more than the “limit-down” of 5%.
Futures on the Dow indicated an opening drop of more than 1,200 points. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down in the premarket as well.
The sharp sell-off comes after President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday that the U.S. was enacting a ban on certain travel from Europe to the U.S. for the next 30 days and called for a series of stimulus measures to blunt the economic side effects of the virus.
His measures appeared to only heighten investors’ anxiety over the financial impacts of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday, the Dow closed down more than 5.86% — more than a 20% drop from February’s record high — pushing the index into a bear market for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis.
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