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| - Wall Street stocks were deep in the red after another trading halt Wednesday afternoon as the economic toll mounts from the coronavirus despite massive financial stimulus measures. Near 1745 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 19,359.90, down around 1,875 points or 8.8 percent, and below its level when US President Donald Trump was inaugurated. The broad-based S&P 500 slumped 8.2 percent to 2,322.93, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 7.4 percent to 6,789.79. Wall Street was suffering through another bruising session amid the crisis over the pandemic, after a rare positive day Tuesday on optimism the government would soon pass a massive stimulus package. Companies from the most embattled sectors, such as airlines and hotels were down more than 20 percent, while energy, industrial and financial stocks were also disproportionately hit. As the economic carnage builds, officials in Washington are preparing a $1.3 trillion stimulus package that includes deferrals on tax payments and loans for small businesses pummeled by the economic shutdown as well as immediate cash payments to all Americans. US President Donald Trump said at a midday briefing that the Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide immediate relief to renters and homeowners by suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April. Still, anxiety remained sky-high as more of the economy shuts down. In an interview with CNBC, investor Bill Ackman called for a global economic shutdown for 30 days, arguing that failure to take radical action will lead to the virus reaching epidemic proportions. "The only answer for this is to shut the world for 30 days," Ackman told the network. "Capitalism does not work in an 18-month shutdown. It can work in a 30-day shutdown." jmb/hs
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