Stocks plunge as travel ban stuns Wall Street
The market carnage continued to pile up on Wall Street Thursday with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq joining the Dow in bear market territory, which means stocks have plunged 20 or more percent from the record highs set in February.
Investors were stunned by President Trump's announcement Wednesday night to ban travel from Europe, further stoking fear the coronavirus pandemic will cause a global economic recession.
The travel ban slammed airline stocks, which were already coping with weakening demand by cutting costs, including a hiring freeze.
Troubled airlines are less likely to follow-through on purchasing or leasing new plans. That is is sure to hurt Boeing, which is already suffering from a production halt of the 737MAX. Boeing was one of the worst performing Dow stocks, slumping 15 percent Thursday.
Cruise ship operators, another sector hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, continued to crumble. Princess Cruises, a unit of Carnival, said it will stop all sailing for two months. Carnival and peers Norwegian and Royal Caribbean all were among the S&P 500's biggest losers for the day.
Casino operators and hotels were down as well on fear customers will stay home.
And online travel agencies such as Booking, Trip Advisor, Expedia tumbled for the same reason.
Even ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft were down sharply on worries they will see fewer rides.
But the market damage wasn't limited to just travel and tourism stocks. Every sector is suffering major losses in early Thursday trade, with U.S. stocks now basically wiping away all gains for 2019 and 2020.
