By Medha Singh
(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were lower on Tuesday following Wall Street’s steepest fall since 1987 in the previous session, as rising business disruptions in an effort to contain the coronavirus pandemic fanned worries over its economic damage.
The benchmark S&P 500 <.SPX> erased all its gains from 2019 on Monday, after drastic fiscal and monetary measures failed to restore investor confidence.
It was the S&P 500’s third-largest daily percentage drop on record, beaten only by the 1987 “Black Monday” rout and the crash of October 1929.
The three indexes have plunged about 30% from their record closing highs hit in mid-February and ended the U.S. stock market’s record 11-year bull run.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s second emergency interest rate cut in less than two weeks that took borrowing costs to nearly zero only aggravated fears of a looming recession.
President Donald Trump on Monday also warned of a likely recession and urged Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people and called for closing bars, restaurants and other venues in states where local virus transmission exists.
“It’s becoming clearer that the impact of the various Western World shutdowns will mean that at its peak the COVID-19 impact on the global economy will likely be worse than the peak of the global financial crisis,” said Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank.
“It is also looking increasingly likely to linger well into the summer.”
At 5:57 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were down 22 points, or 0.11% and S&P 500 e-minis
Nasdaq 100 e-minis
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
