It was an unforgettable night of trade on Wall Street on Monday.
Concerns over the spread of the coronavirus and the oil price war sent U.S. investors to the exits in their droves and led to the Dow Jones sinking more than 2,000 points. This was its worst daily performance since 2008.
At the close, the Dow Jones was down 7.8%, the S&P 500 was down 7.6%, and the Nasdaq had fallen 7.3%.
Not a single share on the Dow Jones was spared from the declines, with heavyweights including Apple, Boeing, and JP Morgan all falling heavily.
What does this mean for the ASX 200?
Unfortunately for Australian investors, the S&P/ASX 200 index looks set to extend its losses with another sizeable decline on Tuesday.
According to the latest SPI futures, the benchmark index is poised to open the day 284 points or 5% lower this morning.
Based on this, and given how hard U.S. banks were hit overnight, there's a strong chance that Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), and the rest of the big four will be testing multi-year lows this morning.
It is also likely to be a tough day of trade for popular tech shares such as Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) and Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) after a heavy decline by the technology-focused Nasdaq index.
When will the market bottom?
I'm optimistic that an end is now in sight, especially given how the number of new Chinese coronavirus cases continues to fall.
If other countries can follow China's lead and stop its spread, then a return to normality might be on the cards in the not so distant future.
This could then be the catalyst for an almighty rebound from global share markets. Which is a view I share with the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein.
Mr Blankfein believes that the coronavirus outbreak is very different to the global financial crisis and expects the market to bounce back quickly once the threat of the coronavirus eases.
On Twitter Blankfein said: "Fear can take mkt lower, but expect quick recovery when health threat recedes. Esp in US, underlying economy strong, banks well-capped, system not too leveraged. Unlike '08, will avoid systemic damage that cud take years to work thru. Obviously, not ignoring tragic human toll."
