Historic plunge in Dow signals serious economic trouble
The Dow Jones index dropped by 1,191 points tonight -- the most in US history -- in the clearest sign yet that major global economies could likely be dragged into recession as the coronavirus turns into a pandemic.
It followed an "ocean of selling" across global markets following the advance of the coronavirus that experts believe will be as bad as the world financial crisis of just over a decade ago.
In Ireland, shares in Paddy Power-owner, Flutter tanked 10% despite the bookies giant saying it was confident the Cheltenham horseracing festival will go ahead next month.
Irish pensions adviser Mercer warned about further falls "if the disease becomes a global pandemic and efforts to control the spread further disrupt economic activity" and said that Irish shares along with world stock markets are likely to remain under pressure for some time.
Sharp falls for stock markets are all about sending signals over the prospects for economies and jobs and the value of retirement pensions.
Before the record US stocks plunge, the Ftse-100 in London lost 246 points, or 3.5% and the Euro Stoxx index of large European firms slid 3.6%. "It has been another session of heavy selling, not so much a sea of red as a whole ocean," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online broker IG.
AB-InBev, the brewer of Budweiser, became the latest high-profile corporate to warn about the sales hit from China. It sells more Budweiser in China than in the US. It follows warnings by Guinness-and Smirnoff-maker Diageo and foods giant Danone earlier this week.
Ireland's Iseq index fell 3.8%, driven lower by the three bank shares: AIB dropped by 7%, Bank of Ireland shed 4.6% and Permanent TSB slumped by 9%. Transport and airline shares fell again: Irish ferries-owner ING fell 3% and Ryanair by 2.5%.
There will be fears about the fortunes of Irish tourism ahead of the summer season as US visitors may be put off from travelling to Europe.
The shares of European travel and airline shares have been among the worst hit in the last week as the coronavirus leapt from Asia into Europe.
