NEW YORK, New York -- Concerns about the spread of Covid 19 in China kept investors on edge Monday, with all major U.S. indices joining global markets falling sharply.
Protests have begun to appear in a number of cities in China as people take to the streets to protest against lock-downs and other restrictions.
When you look at Apple not being able to fulfill the orders for their iPhone because the factories in China are shut down, you think it's a perfect example of how something in one country can affect somewhere else, said Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments.
It has a ripple effect on the global economy when you have something as large as the Chinese economy shutting down. The Dow Jones industrials fell by 497.57 points or 1.45 percent to 33,8240, down 497.57 points or 1.45 percent. The Nasdaq Composite shed 176.86 points or 1.58 percent to 11,049. The Standard and Poor's 500 dropped 62.18 points or 1.54 percent to 3,963. In Germany, the Dax lost 1.01 percent. The CAC 40 dropped 0.70 percent in Paris, France. London's FTSE 100 was down 0.17 percent.
The British pound was down to 1.1953 by the New York close Monday, as the U.S. dollar rebounded on foreign exchange markets. The euro fell to 1.0337. The Japanese yen was only slightly lower at 138.88. The Swiss franc fell to 0.9493.
The Canadian dollar fell to 1.3494. The Australian dollar was much lower at 0.6651. In New Zealand, the S&P NZX 50 declined 74.25 points or 0.65 percent to 11,308. The Australian All Ordinaries fell 29.00 points or 0.39 percent to 7,418. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 120.20 points or 0.42 percent to 28,162. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended up down 275.64 points or 1.57 percent at 17,297. The key index was down more than 4 percent at one point.