Stocks Sink on Swine Flu Panic

Swine flu panic swept across markets today, sending stocks lower around the world. In the US, the Dow sank 80 points at the open, while the S&P and Nasdaq fell 1.1% and 1.2% respectively. In Asia, the Hang Seng tumbled 2.7%, while many major European indexes were down more than 1%. Commodities sank, with oil down almost $3 a barrel, as did transportation and travel stocks, with American Airlines down 7.6%

"As if we didn’t have enough to contend with," wrote one Sydney-based analyst, while a Londoner wrote, "It’s just what we need now, a flu pandemic in the midst of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression." (More stock market stories.)