Coronavirus: Chart shows just how much Trump's address tanked the market he wants to calm
Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening
A chart showing the impact Donald Trump’s Oval Office address had on the US stock market has been released this morning.
Bloomberg Businessweek’s Joe Weisenthal published the chart on his Twitter account, tracking financial markets in the hours before and after Mr Trump's speech concerning coronavirus on Wednesday evening.
During his address from the Oval Office, Mr Trump said: "We will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days.
"The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight. These restrictions will are be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground."
He added: "These prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval. Anything coming from Europe to the United States is what we are discussing."
Although the markets were falling in the hours before his address, the chart shows that they rose slightly before Mr Trump began talking and then dramatically fell in the hour following.
Wall Street's three biggest markets, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq all plunged again at the opening of Wall Street this morning, which triggered the automatic circuit breakers, halting trading.
The markets were halted for 15 minutes, before being reopened, with trading continuing at 9:50am.
In regards to the success of his address, Mr Weisenthal tweeted that "political pundits can argue all they want about whatever, but this chart says it all right now."
Mr Trump’s Oval Office address was planned to explain the emergency measures being put in place by the government in order to tackle the pandemic, but he had to later clarify information he had announced regarding trade, after the markets fell.
"Hoping to get the payroll tax cut approved by both Republicans and Democrats, and please remember, very important for all countries & businesses to know that trade will in no way be affected by the 30-day restriction on travel from Europe," he tweeted.
"The restriction stops people not goods."
The president’s speech was widely criticised and David Frum, a former speechwriter for George W Bush said his Oval Office address “was the worst action yet in a string of bad actions."
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