On Monday morning equities markets in the United states of america and Europe dropped sharply as investors fear over the continued spread of COVID-xix, also known equally the Coronavirus, intensified.

Earlier in the mean solar day, the Italian government instituted a quarantine on 10 towns as the number of people infected by the highly infectious virus rose to 152 and to date vii people have died.

The initial threat COVID-19 posed to global markets seemed to have subsided every bit Red china's swift intervention and strict nationwide quarantines painted the picture that a global pandemic had been avoided.

The contagion spreads to traditional markets

DJI and S&P 500 daily chart. Source: TradingView

DJI and South&P 500 daily chart. Source: TradingView

COVID-xix is now present in thirty countries and the recent outbreak in Italy, along with the spread of the virus to Iran, Republic of korea, Bahrain, and Kuwait over the past few weeks have forced investors and governments to come up to terms with the possibility of the situation worsening.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled dorsum sharply, falling 1,031 points to 27,960.80. The steep 3.56% driblet is the worst correction the market place has seen since December and Feb 2022. The pullback also wiped out all of the gains the Dow has made in 2022.

The S&P 500 took a similar knock, dropping 3.4% to iii,225.89, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.7% to close at 9,221. Markets throughout Europe also corrected sharply.

A growing number of analysts now fear that today'southward sharp pullback could be the beginning of a stronger x% to 15% correction as the massive quarantines in place in many major Chinese cities are expected to negatively impact markets and international trade.

CNBC Mad Money host Jim Kramer explained that stocks are currently "too toxic to touch" as U.S.-based companies are "far as well dependent" on manufacturing in China. Kramer urged circumspection in viewing the current pullback as a buy the dip opportunity and said:

"I need to emphasize, once more, that the big risk from the coronavirus outbreak has to do with interrupted supply chains and a concomitant business slowdown worldwide."

Bitcoin price drops as gold and silver pop

Interestingly, every bit the markets corrected, Bitcoin (BTC) price remained range-jump throughout the day but eventually pulled back three.28% to $9,473 during the U.S. afternoon hours.

Many Bitcoin advocates believe that the digital asset is inversely correlated to traditional markets and have often suggested that investors volition flock to it every bit a hedge against volatility in traditional markets only that was not the case today.

Bitcoin daily price chart. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin daily price nautical chart. Source: Coin360

Despite the three.28% pullback, at the fourth dimension of publishing Bitcoin continues to trade in the $9,400 to $9,900 range. As the cost nursed marginal losses, gold price rose nearly 2% to reach a new 7-yr high at $ane,676.lx and silver followed with similar gains.

Gold, Silver, BTC/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

Gold, Silver, BTC/USDT daily nautical chart. Source: TradingView

Crypto investors and analysts are sure to be curious as to why Bitcoin has failed to follow gold's lead today since the crypto nugget is frequently referred to as 'digital gold'.

Previously, in instances of volatility in traditional markets and geopolitical instability, Bitcoin cost notched significant gains. In 2022 the digital asset rallied strongly equally tensions over the U.s.-Mainland china trade war negatively impacted markets and earlier this year when investors feared the United states of america was on the verge of war with Iran.

Investors will at present watch to see if a relief rally takes place as stock markets open around the earth on Tuesday and crypto investors will likely have their fingers crossed with the promise of Bitcoin price following whatever curt-term recovery by traditional markets.