Dow tumbles 603 points; has worst day since August

Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted Friday, closing down 603 points amid fears over the growing coronavirus outbreak in China.

The index closed at 28,256.03 points, down 2.09 percent from its open Friday. The Nasdaq Composite also fell to 9,150.94 points, down 148 or 1.59 percent, as well as the S&P 500, which closed at 3,225.52, down 58 points or 1.77 percent.

It was the worst day for the Dow since August and the S&P 500 since October.

Experts said fears over the growing coronavirus crisis -- and its effects on trade, travel and global economic growth -- fueled the stock losses.

Ilya Feygin, a senior strategist at WallachBeth Capital, told CNBC "there's fear going into the weekend."

"The theme coming into this year was the [Federal Reserve] and [President Donald] Trump are going to bail us out of any problems, but the virus is something neither one can do anything about. That's a reason to be more fearful," he said.

The number of cases of coronavirus worldwide grew to more than 10,000 on Friday, with some 213 deaths in China. The United States declared a public health emergency and Delta and American airlines suspended all flights to China over fears of spreading the disease.