US STOCKS-Wall St dips again after biggest rout since 1987

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Boeing, McDonald's biggest drags on the Dow
* Consumer discretionary stocks tumble
* Indexes: Dow down 0.69%, S&P up 0.08%, Nasdaq down 0.64%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
March 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes slipped on
Tuesday, a day after recording their biggest tumble since the
crash of 1987, as efforts to contain the rapidly spreading
coronavirus wreak havoc on the global economy.
The Federal Reserve's shock move to cut interest rates to
near zero on Monday sent the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX to late
2018 lows, marking its third-biggest daily percentage drop on
record, beaten only by the 1987 rout and the Great Depression
crash in 1929.
The main U.S. indexes had opened more than 1% higher but the
gains soon evaporated in highly volatile trading.
"We have not experienced an issue like this in the last
several decades, where it affects all industries and businesses
everywhere in the world," said Randy Frederick, vice president
of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
As governments in the United States and Europe start
shutting restaurants and schools, as well as asking people to
stay home, several investors are concerned the current crisis
could snowball into something bigger than a recession, including
a credit crisis, or even a depression. "A recession is a fairly high probability. The question is
when does it start," Frederick said.
Wall Street's three main indexes have plunged about 30% from
their record closing highs in mid February, ending the U.S.
stock market's longest-ever bull run.
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday prepared to weigh a
multibillion-dollar emergency bill offering some economic relief
from the outbreak. At 10:03 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 138.31 points, or 0.69%, at 20,050.21, the S&P 500
.SPX was up 1.85 points, or 0.08%, at 2,387.98. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 44.11 points, or 0.64%, at 6,860.48.
McDonald's Corp MCD.N dropped 7.4% as it decided to close
dine-in areas at many U.S. stores and shift to take-away and
delivery services. Boeing Co BA.N slumped 9.8% after the planemaker said it
was in talks with senior White House officials and congressional
leaders about short-term assistance for the entire U.S. aviation
sector. McDonald's and Boeing were the biggest drags on the
blue-chip Dow index.
Seven of the 11 S&P sectors were in the red, led by a 2.5%
fall in consumer discretionary .SPLRCD stocks. Leading
gainers, the defensive utilities .SPLRCU and consumer staples
.SPLRCS rose more than 2%.
Healthcare stocks were another bright spot as Pfizer Inc
PFE.N gained 4.7% after signing a deal with Germany's BioNTech
SE 22UAy.F to co-develop a potential coronavirus vaccine.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN.O jumped 9.9% after the
company said it had identified antibodies to potentially treat
COVID-19. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.96-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.54-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and 186 new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded two new highs and 584 new lows.