Stocks fall again as markets continue monthlong slide

Stocks plummeted again Wednesday as the expanding economic harm from the coronavirus outweighed the response from Washington.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,338 points, or 6.3%, to close at 19,898. The Dow did pare some of its intraday losses; at one point it was down more than 2,000 points.The S&P 500 fell 5.1%, at one point dropping more than 7% to trigger an automatic trading halt for the fourth time in two weeks. The Nasdaq plummeted 4.7%.

Falling oil prices contributed to the latest rout. Oil fell 24% to an 18-year low.

The markets remained volatile while Washington grapples with a relief plan for the coronavirus pandemic. The losses on Wednesday more than erased all of Tuesday’s gains, after the administration proposed a $1 trillion economic rescue plan.