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* White House orders coronavirus meetings classified
* Boeing sees biggest 3-day drop since 9/11 aftermath
* Rate-sensitive U.S. banks tumble
* Indexes down: Dow 5.55%, S&P 5.06%, Nasdaq 4.93%
(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, March 11 (Reuters) - Wall Street plunged on
Wednesday, bringing the stock market closer to bear market
confirmation after the World Health Organization said it now
considers the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.
Market participants were further rattled following a Reuters
report that the White House had ordered top-level coronavirus
meetings to be classified. "I see a bear market being confirmed but I don't think it's
going to last," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist,
senior portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York,
referring to a market drop of more than 20%. "There's so much
uncertainty it's hard to say but my feeling is this too will
pass."
All three U.S. stock averages sank, midway through a week
whipsawed by news about coronavirus developments and economic
stimulus hopes.
The benchmark S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq were last about
19% below the record closing highs reached on Feb. 19.
A lack of details from the Trump Administration regarding
its plans for fiscal stimulus, and partisan wrangling in
Washington, added further unknowns to the mix. "There were a lot of ideas floated from the White House but
without any clarity of anything coming about from those
discussions, it's not going to help," said Pavlik. "It adds
additional uncertainty to a very uncertain market."
Boeing Co BA.N was the biggest drag on the blue-chip Dow,
sinking 14.9% after announcing plans for a full drawdown of an
existing $13.8 billion loan as early as Friday. The planemaker
is on course for its biggest three-day fall since the aftermath
of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Stocks worldwide lost ground despite global stimulus efforts
to soften the economic blow of the virus, named COVID-19, with
Britain and Italy announcing war chests to contend with the
growing crisis. Concerns over the fast-spreading virus, named a pandemic by
the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, have ravaged
markets and hobbled supply chains as countries around the world
grapple with how to contain both the virus and its economic
impact. As part of those efforts, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely
expected to cut interest rates for a second time this month at
the conclusion of a two-day monetary policy meeting next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 1,388.36
points, or 5.55%, to 23,629.8, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 145.7
points, or 5.06%, to 2,736.53 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
dropped 411.69 points, or 4.93%, to 7,932.56.
All 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 were trading sharply
lower.
Rate-sensitive banking stocks .SPXBK were down 5.7% as
U.S. Treasury yields dropped. Nike Inc NKE.N fell 5.3% on fears of virus-related sales
slump in China.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
13.66-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 7.96-to-1 ratio favored
decliners.
The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 99 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 6 new highs and 605 new lows.
S&P 500 sector performance https://tmsnrt.rs/2VPkNLd
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