Stocks plunge in worst drop of coronavirus outbreak. Financial markets cratered on Monday, as investors were confronted with evidence that a steep decline in the world’s largest economies may have already begun. The financial downdraft was global, with major benchmarks in Asia, Europe and the United States all falling on Monday. Then came news that factory activity in China — one of the world’s largest economies — fell 13.5 percent last month compared with February of last year. This report is a harbinger of what is to come,” wrote economic analysts with the investment bank Jefferies in New York.

Source: New York Times March 16, 2020 21:10 UTC