Business Insider: The S&P 500 Suffers Its Quickest Correction Since the Great Depression

Article by Ben Winck in Business Insider

The S&P 500 slipped through the week to post its fastest correction since the Great Depression as fears of a coronavirus-driven recession tore into markets around the world.

The key index notched its biggest single-day drop since 2011 on Thursday after plunging 4.4%. The S&P 500 index wiped out its year-to-date gains after its Monday and Tuesday slumps and now sits 10.7% below where it closed December 31.

The index's rapid downturn has also pushed the S&P 500 to 14.5% below its February 19 high as of Friday morning. A market correction is officially defined as a 10% drop from an index's peak, leading the S&P 500 to easily surpass the bleak threshold. The six days of consecutive declines established the correction as the index's fastest since July 1933, when the S&P 500 plummeted 13.3% in two days, The Financial Times reported.

US stocks stood at record highs just last week as investors shrugged off initial reports of the coronavirus' escalation. Yet a spike in deaths outside China on Monday prompted new fears of the outbreak damaging the global economy. The S&P 500 tumbled throughout the week as the number of virus cases rocketed higher.

To read this article in Business Insider in its entirety, click here.

The index's steep declines pushed investors out of equities and into traditionally defensive assets. Treasury yields hit several record-lows, while gold gained early in the week before a modest slump.

To read this article in business Insider in its entirety, click here.