'Panic-selling' reached on the stock market as coronavirus sparks Friday tumble

Selling on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday midday touched levels considered panic-like by technical traders, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped more than 450 points, sliding beneath a short-term moving average. The Arms index on the NYSE hit around 2.2 Friday midday. The index is a volume-weighted breadth measure, that tends to rise when the broader market falls, as the intensity of the selling in declining stocks is usually greater than the intensity of buying in rising stocks. Levels above 2.000 are considered panic-like activity. The Dow was down 446 points, or 1.6%, at 28,416, below its 50-day moving average at 28,443.30. The S&P 500 index was sinking 1.4% at 3,237, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.2% at 9,184. Markets have been skittish amid the spread of a novel strain of coronavirus in China. The infectious illness that reportedly originated in Wuhan City, China, has infected 9,500 people, and claimed at least 213 lives, according to reports out of China.

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