March 12, 2020 6:38AM PT
UPDATED: U.S. equities markets opened sharply lower on Thursday amid the global scramble to address the growing coronavirus pandemic.
Global markets were rattled by the news delivered on Wednesday night from President Donald Trump the U.S. would temporary ban most travel from Europe to the U.S. as a means of trying to contain the spread of the virus in the U.S.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 1,600 points at the start of trading. The S&P 500 plunged nearly 7%, leading to a 15-minute halt in trading after just five minutes as per the “circuit breaker” system designed to slow panicky sell offs. The NASDAQ fell more than 550 points, or 7.2%.
Major media conglomerates were hammered once again amid the downturn. Disney was off 8% at the start of trading, bringing its share price below $100 for the first time since May 2018. ViacomCBS, Comcast and AT&T were also down in the 6%-7% range in early trading.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. was officially in bear market territory as the Dow has fallen more than 20% from its recent high. The U.S. had enjoyed a stellar run of bull market conditions since May 2009, when the recovery began to kick in from the most recent recession spurred by the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis of 2007-2008.
More to come
