Stock Market Feels the Pain of Coronavirus Outbreak

Dow slips below 29,000 again
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 24, 2020 3:08 PM CST
Stock Market Feels the Pain of Coronavirus Outbreak
In this file photo, specialist Brian Giannettino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Health care companies led a broad slide in US stocks Friday as increased fears over the spread of a deadly outbreak of coronavirus rattled markets, per the AP. The sell-off followed news that a Chicago woman has become the second US patient diagnosed with the new virus from China. Health authorities worldwide have been taking measures to contain and monitor the coronavirus outbreak. The Dow fell 170 points to 28,989, the S&P 500 fell 30 points to 3,295, and the Nasdaq fell 87 points to 9,314. All the losses were less than 1%.

“It really is a reaction to the widening nature of what's going on with the coronavirus,” said Lisa Erickson, head of traditional investments at US Bank Wealth Management. "People are concerned about, ultimately, the impact on Chinese growth and perhaps global growth." Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb led the slide in health care stocks, shedding 4.2%. Health insurers also fell: UnitedHealth Group dropped 2.2% and Amgen lost 3.4%.

(More stock market stories.)

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