Canada’s main stock index suffered its worst day in four-and-a-half years as it fell by triple digits for a third straight day amid growing concerns about the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak that began in China.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 385.37 points or 2.2% at 17,177.37, the largest single-day decrease since August 2015.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 879.44 points at 27,081.36. The S&P 500 index was down 97.68 points at 3,128.21, while the Nasdaq composite was down 255.67 points at 8,965.61.

The Canadian dollar traded for US75.30¢ compared with an average of US75.31¢ on Monday.

The April crude contract was down US$1.53 at US$49.90 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was up 0.8 of a cent at US$1.85 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was down US$26.60 at US$1,650.00 an ounce and the March copper contract was up 0.1 of a cent at US$2.58 a pound.