US stocks close with heavy losses, Dow Jones drops almost 1,200 points

The main US stock indices slumped on Thursday, amid massive sell-off and corrections due to the growing concerns over the coronavirus spread, which pushed Wall Street to suffer massive losses.

Officials from the International Monetary Fund stated that the organization may cut its global growth forecast this year due to the coronavirus, which has spread to more than 50 countries so far.

The number of infected cases surpassed 82,000, with a death toll of nearly 2,900 victims in Asian and European countries.

The final reading of the US GDP for the fourth quarter of 2019, showed growth by 2.1%, in line with forecasts, and the durable goods reading fell by 0.2% in January, in addition to the jobless claims rising by 8K to 219K.

To the oil market, WTI crude lost 3.4% to close at the lowest price since early 2019 at $47.09 a barrel, after it hit a day high of $48.7 and a low of $45.8.

Brent shed 2.3% to the lowest price since December 2018 at $52.18 a barrel, with a high of $53.2 and a low of $50.9.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 4.4% or 1191 points to settle at 25,766, and hit an intraday high 26,775 and a low 25,752.

Nasdaq plunged 4.6% or 414 points to 8,566 points, with a high of 8,904 and a low of 8,562 points.

S&P 500 lost 4.4% or 137 points to close at 2,978 with a high of 3,097 and a low of 2,977.