NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street, shaving 5.9% off the Dow Jones Industrial Average and bringing the index into a bear market.

The more widely followed S&P 500 is within one percentage point of its own bear market, which would mark the end of one of Wall Street's greatest eras.

Investors are waiting for a more aggressive response from the U.S. government to economic fallout from the coronavirus.

The losses accelerated after health authorities declared the outbreak a pandemic.

Vicious swings like Wednesday’s are becoming routine as investors rush to sell amid uncertainty about how badly the outbreak will hit the economy.

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