By Alex Veiga and Damian J. Troise, Associated Press:
Stocks sank again after another wild day, extending a rout that left Wall Street with its worst week since October 2008.
The market clawed back much of its intraday losses in the last 15 minutes of trading .Bond prices soared as investors sought safety, pushing yields to record lows.
The stock swoon is being driven by fear that the coronavirus outbreak will derail the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 357 points, or 1.4%, to 25,409. The S&P 500 lost 24 points, or 0.8%, to 2,954. The benchmark index has lost 13% since hitting a record high 10 days ago. The Nasdaq rose 1 point to 8,567.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pledged that the Fed will “use our tools” to support the economy, a strong signal of a likely rate cut, perhaps at its next meeting March 17-18.
The Fed said Friday that it will “act as appropriate to support the economy.”
The statement came after a week of sharp market drops that drove stocks down roughly 13% in value.
Powell said the fundamentals of the U.S. economy “remain strong,” but added that “the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity.”
