NEW YORK - US stocks suffered their worst day in over three months on Monday as China extended the Lunar New Year holiday due to a virus outbreak, fuelling worries about the economic impact of containment efforts in the world’s second largest economy.
“It seems to me the Chinese are doing a much better job of containing it than with Sars and what did Sars ultimately lead to? Did it lead to some sort of economic catastrophe – no.” Earnings are now expected to show a decline of 0.5% for the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv data. Of the 87 companies that have reported though Monday morning, 67.8 have topped expectations, below the 74% rate from the past four quarters.
Wynn Resorts Ltd, Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd and Las Vegas Sands Corp, which have large operations in China, plunged at least 5%. The NYSE Arca Airline index dropped 3.32%.