Coronavirus: Stocks plummet as Dow and FTSE 100 see worst day since 1987

Efforts to inject money into the system failed to ease investor fears

Global stocks have plummeted once again, with the FTSE, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average posting their worst days since 1987.

The continued decline comes as global concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic have continued to mount, with the US Treasury Department offering up $1.5 trillion in loans to banks to try and smooth investor concerns.

That injection of capital momentarily calmed the financial markets in the United States, but selling began again by mid-afternoon.

Rate cuts offered last week by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England similarly did not soothe investor fears.

The declines mark the worst since Black Monday in 1987, which sparked fears of a second Great Depression.

It remains to be seen whether markets might rebound as the economy enters a bear market, meaning stocks have dropped by 20 per cent from recent highs.

"What we really need is some huge confidence that this isn't going to cause the kind of stress and horrible loss of life [it has] in Italy everywhere else in the world," former Goldman Sachs chief economist Lord Jim O'Neill told the BBC.

The declines on Thursday were spurred in part by drops in oil, with other industries like the airline industry taking a beating as well.

The continued market declines have sparked fears of widespread layoffs in the US and elsewhere, with ship yard drivers in Los Angeles already being told they have no work to do.