Day Traders Diary

3/18/20

Stocks tumbled on Wednesday, reaching a new coronavirus crisis low as investors worried about the economic damage from the pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,338. points, or 6.3%. The Dow was down more than 2,300 points earlier. The S&P 500 was down 5.2% and closed nearly 30% below a record set last month. The broad index also dipped below its 2,351, its closing low during the Christmas 2018 sell-off. The Nasdaq Composite slid 4.7%. Virtually no market was safe from the selling wave, with crude prices having their third-worst decline on record.

Stocks came off their lows in the final minutes of trading after the Senate obtained the votes to pass a coronavirus relief plan to expand paid leave.

Trading was briefly suspended after a "circuit breaker" was tripped up. A circuit breaker halts trading across the U.S. stock exchanges for 15 minutes and is meant to ensure orderly market behavior. Wednesday market the fourth time in a week that a circuit breaker was triggered.

Details of a potential fiscal stimulus package were not enough to curb the selling pressures in the market.

Dow Jones reported on Wednesday the Treasury Department is proposing two rounds of direct payments to citizens, which total $250 billion. Those payments, according to the report, would begin April 6. Treasury is also asking permission to backstop money markets, according to the report. A source familiar with the matter told CNBC on Tuesday the administration is seeking a stimulus package worth between $850 billion and more than $1 trillion.