U.S. stock markets suffered their worst day in more than two years with the Dow Jones industrial average closing down 3.6%, while Canada’s main stock index posted a triple-digit decline amid concerns stemming from an increase in new cases of the novel coronavirus outside of China.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 280.79 points or 1.6% at 17,562.74, the biggest drop since August.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 3.6% by losing 1,031.61 points at 27,960.80. The S&P 500 index was down 3.4% or 111.86 points at 3,225.89, while the Nasdaq composite was down 3.7% or 355.31 points at 9,221.28.

The Canadian dollar traded for US75.31¢ compared with an average of US75.62¢ on Friday.

The April crude contract was down US$1.95 or 3.65% at US$51.43 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was down 7.4 cents at US$1.84 per mmBTU.

The April gold contract was up US$27.80 at US$1,676.60 an ounce and the March copper contract was down 3.1 cents at US$2.58 a pound.