Today the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed in bear market territory, down 20% from its February high. The Standard & Poor’s 500 touched bear territory during the day before closing down 19% from its February high. (A bear market is usually defined as a 20% or more drop from a high.)
For the day the Dow closed down 5.86% and the S&P 500 closed down 19%. The NASDAQ was down 4.7% and the Russell 2000 small cap index fell 6.41%.
U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude was lower by 4.83% to $32.70 a barrel.
Boeing (BA) was a black hole sending the stock-price-weighted Dow lower with a loss at the close of 18.15%Â The company announced that it planned to draw down all of a $13.8 billion loan. The company already drew down $7.5 billion of this loan in February.
There was a lot of that going on today. Scary stuff for any investor or trader worried that an economic slowdown due to the coronavirus could lead to a wave of corporate bond defaults.
For example, Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HTS) lost 9% after the hospitality company announced that it was drawing down some of its $1.75 billion credit line. Casino and hotel operator Wynn Resorts (WYNN) has also announced that it will draw down part of its credit line. Shares of Wynn Resorts were down 10.31% today.
Blackstone Group (BX) Â asked companies it controls in its private equity portfolio to draw down their bank credit lines to help prevent any liquidity shortfalls. Shares of the Blackstone Group were down 6.5% today.
