Another bloodbath on Wall Street as coronavirus spreads alarm through economy

The coronavirus spread alarm from Wall Street to Main Street on Thursday, inflicting another bloodbath in the stock market while consumers showed signs of curtailing spending and cancellations hit everything from professional sports leagues to Broadway shows.

As the number of infection cases in the U.S. surpassed 1,300 and deaths rose to 38, major stock indexes suffered another furious sell-off and plunged well into bear-market territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 2,000 points for the second time this week, closing down 2,352, or 9.9%, to finish at 21,200 points.

Not even a decision by the New York Federal Reserve to pump up to $2 trillion in short-term Treasury bonds had much impact on the selloff. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each were down more than 9%, and trading was halted briefly after the opening bell when stocks fell rapidly more than 7%.