Dow plunges nearly 3,000 points as Fed intervention does little to subdue Wall Street’s distress

Washington Post logoU.S. markets went deep red on coronavirus fears, shredding roughly 12 percent from the S&P 500 and Nasdaq

Fears that policymakers have not done enough to avert a protracted economic downturn deepened a sense of national crisis on Monday and sent stocks to their worst single-day losses since the Black Monday crash of 1987.

The selloff accelerated, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging nearly 3,000 points, after President Trump warned that disruption from the coronavirus pandemic could last through August and issued new public health guidance, saying Americans should limit gatherings to no more than 10 people. He also defended his handling of the crisis, which has been marred by a slow rollout of testing, saying his administration has done “a fantastic job.”

From Washington to Wall Street, the coronavirus is reshaping American life. The Supreme Court said it would postpone scheduled oral arguments through April, citing its stance during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic and outbreaks of yellow fever in 1973 and 1798.