U.S. Stocks Sold Off Heavily

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index capped its worst three-day loss since 2011 as airlines sank on Ebola concerns and energy shares plunged as Brent dropped to the lowest in almost four years. The dollar slid and gold climbed.

The S&P 500 (SPX) fell 1.6 percent to 1,874.82 at 4 p.m. in New York, the lowest since May and closing below its 200-day moving average for the first time since 2012. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.4 percent to a six-month low. The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index plunged 6.2 percent, the most in two years. Brent crude tumbled 1.5 percent after sliding into a bear market last week. The dollar weakened against most of its 16 major counterparts. Gold gained 0.7 percent.

Today’s selloff extended a rout that wiped $1.5 trillion from global equities last week amid concern about weakening economic growth. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said during the weekend that U.S. rate increases could be delayed by slowing growth elsewhere. Confirmation that a Dallas health-care worker is infected after treating an Ebola patient who died has put a new focus on risks the virus will spread.

Bloomberg

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