US stocks open sharply lower, Dow Jones drops more than 400 points

The major US stock indices opened sharply lower on Monday, amid the mounting concerns in global markets over the spread of the deadly virus in China, which spooked investors and increased demand on safe havens such as precious metals.

China announced that the Corona virus has claimed 81 victims and more than 2,000 infected cases, and stressed that it expected more cases.

Multiple other countries including the US, France, South Korea and Russia have revealed the have confirmed cases of the virus.

Whilst the World Health Organization is still insisting on not declaring an international emergency due to Coronavirus, but stated that one of its representatives will travel to China soon to determine the full situation.

As for stocks, Dow Jones was lower by 1.5% or 416 points to 28,573 at 15:15 GMT, Nasdaq dipped 1.8% or 170 points to 9,140, and S&P 500 lost 1.5% or 50 points to 3,246.