US stocks suffered their biggest one-day drop since 1987 on Monday as the Federal Reserve’s surprise move to cut interest rates to near zero increased worries about a recession due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12.93%, and the S&P 500 fell 11.98% to close at its lowest level since December 2018.

Earlier, London’s FTSE 100 index fell 7.5% to its lowest level since October 2011, adding to a 17% slide last week, while the broader European STOXX 600 index fell another 8.4%.

In an effort to improve liquidity and help global funding markets, the US Federal Reserve cut its interest rates to near zero on Sunday, while its counterparts in New Zealand, Australia and Japan took their own measures. 

“The weight of this virus problem is so great that it’s greater than any central bank medicine,” Keith Temperton, trader at Tavira Securities, told Reuters. 

“What we really need is some sign that things can’t repeat.

“Once we even get close to peaking, the markets will rally hard.

“But until then, we just see selling.”