The economic uncertainty and the cost of dealing with the Corona shocks US markets • Dow Jones down 2.9%

• New York Stock Exchange Building // Photo: AFP

Wall Street stock prices dropped sharply Wednesday, following a week of bad news for the global economy following the spread of the Corona epidemic in the United States and Europe.

The S&P, the largest US index, fell nearly four percent, after falling 1.5 percent last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.9 percent.

The Nasdaq technology index also recorded a fall during trading day, falling 2.37 percent. Gate declines were also recorded in London, Paris and Far East markets.

Part of the bleak mood in the markets stems from the speech of US President Donald Trump today declaring that the United States is facing "tough and tragic two weeks."

The daily death toll in the United States from the plague today was 800, the highest number so far. President Donald Trump, who addressed the White House tonight, said the next two weeks would be "very painful" for the country. "We want Americans to be prepared for the tough days ahead. We are going through a very difficult two weeks and then, hopefully, as the experts predict, we will see light at the end of the tunnel," the president said.

Nearly half of the dead in America were in the state of New York, the epicenter of the epidemic. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for reinforcements from the administration. "We must be ready for the next week, where we expect a huge increase in the number of cases. I asked last week to deploy military personnel here," said De Blasio at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, which was quickly converted into a field hospital.