U.S stocks closed markedly lower Wednesday — with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing nearly all gains since President Trump’s inauguration.
The Dow closed at 19,909.98 points Wednesday, down 6.25% from Tuesday’s close and only just above the 19,732.40 points it stood at on Jan. 20, 2017.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite also closed down Wednesday, 5.17% and 4.70%, respectively.
During midday trading, the S&P 500 dropped 7% at 1 p.m., tripping a 15-minute stop in trading.
Wednesday’s halt in trading was the fourth to occur in the past week as markets have been extremely volatile in reaction to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman told CNBC that Trump should shut down the entire country in order to stop the spread of the virus.
“We need to shut it down now. … This is the only answer,” he said. He called for a 30-day shutdown of the entire country.
The markets reacted to General Motors and Ford announcing Wednesday that they would suspend all production at their North American facilities until the end of the month, saying the move was necessary to protect employees from contracting the coronavirus. Fiat-Chrysler was expected to make a similar announcement.
Target stores across the United States are decreasing their hours to allow extra time to clean and restock the shelves in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Beginning Wednesday, stores will close by 9 p.m. The retailer also said it would reserve the first hour of shopping each Wednesday at stores nationwide for vulnerable guests, which includes older people and those with underlying health concerns.
Oil prices are also suffering from the spread of the virus. A barrel of WTI crude oil is selling more than 16% lower than yesterday, trading barely above $20. Prices collapsed amid a historic drop in demand from the coronavirus outbreak and a surge in supply by producer countries.
The 10-year Treasury yield was up to 1.03%.
