Dow drops 1190 points amid coronavirus fears, S&P 500 sees fastest correction in history

Markets plunged for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday, with coronavirus fears shaving over 1,100 points off the Dow — its biggest in history — and sending the S&P 500 Index swooning to its fastest-ever correction.

Investors took fright amid the first coronavirus case in the U.S. involving a person who didn’t travel to an infected country and didn’t knowingly interact with someone who did. Meanwhile, California’s governor said the state is monitoring more than 8,400 people who could possibly have the virus.

The virus continues to spread globally, with more than 82,000 cases and more than 2,800 deaths. The world’s biggest hot spots outside of China include Italy, South Korea, and Iran, where the death rate is higher than other hard-hit areas. Experts are becoming increasingly resigned to a worldwide spread of the disease, even as China’s new infections slow.

All of those developments hammered global markets. The last six days saw the S&P 500 drop by 10% at rate faster than it ever has before, according to Deutsche Bank Securities, shaving trillions off the market’s value.