Stocks open sharply lower on Wall Street; Dow sinks 1.8%

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening sharply lower on Wall Street, putting the market on track for its worst week since October 2008 during the global financial crisis. U.S. indexes fell 1.8% following steep losses in Europe and Asia. The rout is driven by fear that the virus that emerged in China will derail the global economy. Investors continue to buy up low-risk assets like bonds, sending yields to record lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 463 points, or 1.8%, to 25,311. The S&P 500 lost 54 points, or 1.8%, to 2,922. The Nasdaq fell 143 points, or 1.7%, to 8,423.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below:

Global stock markets plunged further Friday on spreading fears over the impact of the new coronavirus, with some indexes set to close out their worst week since the depths of the financial crisis in 2008.

Germany's DAX skidded as much as 5% before stabilizing, Tokyo and Shanghai closed 3.7% lower. Wall Street looked set for more losses a day after enduring its biggest one-day drop in nine years. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were down 0.4%.

Investors had been growing confident the disease that emerged in China in December might be under control. But outbreaks in Italy, South Korea, Japan and Iran have fueled fears the virus is turning into a global threat that might derail trade and industry.

Anxiety intensified Thursday when the United States reported its first virus case in someone who hadn't traveled abroad or been in contact with anyone who had.

Virus fears “have become full-blown across the globe as cases outside China climb,” Chang Wei Liang and Eugene Leow of DBS said in a report.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 sank 2.9% to 6,599 and Frankfurt's DAX tumbled 3.3% to 11,955. France's CAC...