New York, March 17  US equities plunged on Monday with Dow closing about 3,000 points lower, as panic selling continued over COVID-19 fallout.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2,997.10 points, or 12.93 per cent, to 20,188.52. The S&P 500 lost 324.89 points, or 11.98 per cent, to end at 2,386.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 970.28 points, or 12.32 per cent, to 6,904.59, Xinhua reported.

All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended significantly lower, with the real estate down 16.55 per cent, representing the worst-performing group.

The major averages fell to their lows in late session after US President Donald Trump said the US economy "may be" headed for recession and that the COVID-19 outbreak could last for months.

Trading was halted for 15 minutes on Wall Street shortly after the opening bell as a dip of 8.14 per cent on the benchmark S&P 500 triggered a circuit breaker. It was the third time that the circuit breaker, or trading halt, has been tipped since last week.