A screen shows U.S. President Donald Trump on his daily White House coronavirus briefing as traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
March 18, 2020
(Reuters) – The S&P 500 index fell on Wednesday when trading resumed after an initial automatic 15-minute cutout, as investors priced in a complete breakdown in business activity and consumer spending from the coronavirus pandemic.
With airports and hotels emptying and airlines asking staff to take unpaid leave to stem losses, the S&P 1500 airlines index <.SPCOMAIR> sank 27.6%, while shares in Hilton <HLT.N>, Marriott <MAR.O> and Hyatt <H.N> hotels fell by 25.5% to 36.5%.
President Trump’s request for Congress to approve $500 billion in cash payments to taxpayers along with $50 billion in loans for airlines did little to stem the bleeding.
At 1:11 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> was down 1,713.37 points, or 8.07%, at 19,524.01, the S&P 500 <.SPX> was down 180.39 points, or 7.13%, at 2,348.80 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was down 474.67 points, or 6.47%, at 6,860.11.
If the S&P 500 falls 13%, it will trigger a level-2 circuit breaker and halt trading again for 15 minutes.
(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
