Iran Press/ America: The financial markets around the world have reacted to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak around the world as in London's index of top shares ended the day almost 8% lower, with some £125bn wiped off the value of major UK firms. The Dow had its worst day since 2008, tumbling more than 2,000 points after a trading halt and the biggest oil crash in nearly 30 years.
Similar falls took place across the US, Europe and Asia as a row between Russia and Saudi Arabia saw oil prices plunge.
Global oil markets plunged after the implosion of an alliance between OPEC and Russia caused the worst one-day crash in crude prices in nearly 30 years.
Shares were already reeling from fears of the impact of the coronavirus as cases globally continue to rise.
Analysts described the market reaction as "utter carnage".
In the US, the major stock indexes fell so sharply at the start of trading, that the buying and selling of shares was halted for 15 minutes, as a so-called "circuit breaker" aimed at curbing panicky selling came into effect.
The US is hit in financial markets
The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 2,000 points, the biggest ever fall in intraday trading. Dow Jones experienced its worst single day in history.
The dramatic drops were triggered by a row between Saudi Arabia and Russia over oil output. Saudi said it would slash prices and pump more oil, sparking fears of a price war. The price of international oil benchmark Brent fell almost a third in its biggest drop since the Gulf War in 1991 before recovering slightly to trade 20% lower.
A professor of finance at MIT's Sloan School of Management, Andrew Lo said: "There is panic setting in the market right now," he added: "Things are going to get worse before they get better."
"It's going to be a very difficult set of market conditions for people to navigate through over the next few months. One has to have a strong stomach," he noted.
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