Stocks take worst losses since 1987 crash as Dow plunges nearly 3,000 points

Stocks took their steepest losses since the 1987 market crash on Monday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged almost 3,000 points, marking the second-worst day in its history.

The Dow plummeted by 2,997 points Monday for a loss of 12.9 percent, the steepest drop by points and its second-steepest drop by percentage in the index’s history. The Dow’s drop shattered records set on March 12, when the average sunk 2,352 points for a loss of 10 percent. 

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite plunged roughly 12 percent and 12.3 percent, respectively.

The stock market has crashed throughout March as the scale of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the economy have grown increasingly severe. There are at least 3,972 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. as of Monday afternoon, according to The New York Times, causing at least 68 deaths.

President Trump acknowledged Monday that the U.S. “may be” heading into a recession and that the spread of the coronavirus could continue through July or August. The president’s warning sent stocks plunging further from a Monday morning decline, a sign of deepening panic in financial markets about the toll of the pandemic.