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Trump's economic measures for the coronavirus 2:08
New York / Hong Kong / London (CNN Business) - US stock futures plummeted after President Donald Trump announced that trips from more than two dozen European countries to the United States will be suspended for 30 days, an escalation. of the measures before the outbreak of a new coronavirus.
Dow futures fell more than 1,000 points, or 4.3%; S&P 500 futures, 4.1%, and Nasdaq futures, 4.2%.
Europe's stock markets fell dramatically in the opening on Thursday. London's FTSE 100 fell 5%, Germany's DAX fell 5.4%, and France's CAC 40 lost 4.5%. Italy's benchmark stock index, which has fallen 18% this week, lost another 5.9%.
READ: Trump's speech unleashes chaos as coronavirus crisis deepens
The travel suspension begins Friday at midnight and applies to countries in the Schengen Area, an area without border controls that includes Italy, Germany, France, Spain and 22 other nations. The UK is not included.
Markets in Asia moved sharply downward after Trump's announcement.
Australia's S & P / ASX 200, which entered a bear market on Wednesday, sank 7.4%. The Chinese Shanghai Composite Index ended the day with a 1.5% drop.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished 3.7% lower, while South Korea's Kospi Index closed down 3.9%. Both indices are flirting with bear market territory.
Futures for Brent crude, the world benchmark for oil, fell nearly 5%, last trading at $ 34.03 a barrel.
Investors do not see the end and "the operators are pressing the sell button now thinking that the US government. USA It has lagged behind the curve in its response (on the coronavirus), ”wrote Stephen Innes, market strategist at AxiCorp, in a note Thursday.
Initial confusion
Trump's announcement, made during a speech to the nation Wednesday night, initially sowed some confusion. He described the suspension as affecting "Europe," rather than the group of countries that US authorities later clarified.
During the speech, he also said that “the bans would not only apply to the huge amount of trade and cargo, but also to other things as we get approval,” but then he corrected himself on Twitter to say that “trade in no way will be affected “by the travel restriction.
"The restriction stops people, not property," he said.
And US citizens and permanent residents in Europe will still be able to return to the country during the 30-day period, though they will be screened upon entry and will face quarantine or restrictions on their movement.
Still, it is unclear whether airlines will continue to fly those routes if passenger demand for European citizens is depleted due to the ban.
"Travel restrictions equate to slower global economic activity, so if you need more persuasion to sell sell sell sell after such a negative signal from night trade in US markets, it has just fallen into your lap," he wrote. Innes.
The shares of European airlines were affected in the first operations, with shares of Air France KLM losing 14% and the owner of British Airways IAG falling more than 10%. Delta shares are down 12% in pre-trade trading, while American Airlines shares are down nearly 16%.
Disappointed markets
In his speech, Trump explained some other areas in which he hopes to boost the economy, including the postponement of tax payments for some people and companies.
He said he would try to provide "unprecedented" measures that would allow sick workers to stay home and still receive payment.
And he called on Congress to provide payroll tax relief to Americans, though that idea has met with some resistance on Capitol Hill.
But Trump did not include any concrete measures to dampen the economy, wrote Jeffrey Halley, a market analyst at Oanda, in a research note.
"That has probably disappointed the markets more than anything else," added Halley.
The falls followed another volatile day on Wall Street in a roller coaster week for markets fueled by the new coronavirus outbreak and falling oil prices. There are now more than 115,000 coronavirus cases worldwide and more than 4,000 people have died.
Both the S&P 500 and the Dow entered bearish territory, but only the Dow closed the day on a bear market.
Two other key market indices, the Dow Jones Transportation Average and Russell 2000 focused on small caps, are already in a bear market.
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