Stocks Ended Sharply Lower, Dow Tumbled More Than 1,000 Points

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Monday, with the Dow dropping more than 1,000 Points, as investors unnerved by rising coronavirus concerns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 1,031.61 points, or 3.56%, to 27,960.80. The S&P 500 fell 111.86 points, or 3.35%, to 3,225.89. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 355.31 points, or 3.71%, to 9,221.28.

Oil futures suffered a drop of almost 4% on Monday as the spread of COVID-19 outside China underlines worries about a potential hit to crude demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery fell $1.95, or nearly 3.7%, to settle at $51.43 a barrel. April Brent crude lost $2.20, or 3.8%, to end at $56.30 a barrel.

An unexpected surge in confirmed infections within Italy and South Korea — which now has the largest cluster of cases outside of China — raised the possibility that the mystery virus could be mutating into a pandemic.