Market Extra: 5 ways coronavirus drove down the Dow and sent shockwaves through markets this week

Market Extra: 5 ways coronavirus drove down the Dow and sent shockwaves through markets this week

Why coronavirus crushed the Dow and sent shockwaves through global financial markets this week. U.S. stocks suffered fastest fall from all-time highs to bear market on record. The longest bull market in U.S. history came to a sudden end this week, punctuated by a Thursday selloff that was the steepest one-day fall since the October 1987 stock market crash, driven by fears the COVID-19 pandemic will push the global economy into recession.. To say that markets don't like uncertainty is to repeat a cliché, but the situation around the COVID-19 outbreak is, well, exceptionally uncertain.. The uncertainty means that "fear" is now the main market driver," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a note.. Investors have little idea how many people are infected, which means they can't form a confident judgment about how long the crisis will last, Shepherdson said.. While crashing oil prices translate into cheap gasoline and energy costs for consumers, the speed and scale of the drop sent shock waves through global markets.. And not only did stocks crater, but even gold and U.S.. Treasury prices fell, pushing up yields, and indicating that waves of forced selling in response to losses and margin calls