Dow Plunges Nearly 3,000 Points On Coronavirus Panic: Media Stock Sink, Exhibition Losses Swell As Theaters Close

UPDATED with market close

The market plunged nearly 13% Monday creating a wasteland of lost value as a wave of panic set in over the trajectory of the coronavirus in the U.S. exacerbated in the final minutes of trading by President Trump’s comments the crisis could continue through the summer. He announced new, increasingly draconian national guidelines.

The DJIA fell 2,997 points or 12.93%. It’s was the second-worst percentage drop and the biggest point loss in the index’s history, bringing it to its lowest level since May of 2017.

The S&P lost 11.14% and the Nasdaq crashed by 12.32.

President Trump said at a press conference that infection-related restrictions could be ongoing through July and August.

Entertainment stocks were a sea of red. The industry led the way last week in canceling live events, theme parks, film festivals and shutting down movie and TV productions. Movie theaters are now shuttered in many largte markets and restrictions and suggestions on a federal, state and local level become ever more draconian to stop the spread of the virus.

Among the biggest companies, ViacomCBS plunged 17%; Netflix fell 11%;Disney closed down 7.3%. Theater owned Cinmark lost a painful 30% and AMC Entertainment was down 20%. Exhibition is taking the most direct hit in the ongoing carnage.

The opening was already grim.e.by the Federal Reserve Sunday to slash interest rates to near zero and announced a major quantitative easing program to keep the economy running. It was expected to move aggressively, but not until its regularly scheduled meeting this week. The weekend announcement seemed to spook markets, which aren’t behaving logically at the moment.