Coronavirus panic sent world stock markets tumbling again yesterday putting them on course for their largest weekly fall since the 2008 global financial crisis – with almost $6 trillion wiped from global market value so far this week.

The rout showed no signs of slowing and the ongoing dive for safety sent yields on US government bonds, widely seen as the world’s most secure asset, to record lows.

Disruptions to international travel and supply chains, school closures and cancellations of major events have all blackened the outlook for a world economy that was already struggling with fallout from the US-China trade war.

Hopes the epidemic, first detected in China in December, would be over swiftly and economic activity quickly return to normal have been shattered as the World Health Organisation warned it could spread worldwide.

At 3:03 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777.34 points, or 3.02 per cent to 24,989.3, the S&P 500 lost 74.28 points or 2.49 per cent to 2,904.48 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 158.96 points or 1.86 per cent to 8,407.52.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 2.42 per cent for a weekly loss of over 11 per cent, it’s second largest on record.

The $6 trillion lost in market cap is roughly equivalent to Japan’s yearly GDP, the third-largest in the world.

In Asia, MSCI’s regional index excluding Japan shed 2.6 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei slumped 3.7 per cent on rising fears the July-August Tokyo Olympics may be called off due to the coronavirus.

The CSI300 index of Shanghai and Shenzhen shares dropped 3.5 per cent bringing its weekly loss to 5 per cent, the largest since April.

About 10 countries have reported their first virus cases over the past 24 hours, including Nigeria, the biggest economy in Africa.

Expectations the Fed will cut interest rates to cushion the blow are rising in money markets. Fed funds futures are now fully pricing in a rate cut next month, with the question only being how large it will be.

The European Central Bank historically lags the Fed but it is now seen cutting by another 10 basis points by June.

The yen’s luster shined, with the Japanese currency rising by the most for any week since mid-2016.