That Dow (INDU) closed 1,862 points, or 6.9%, lower. The index fell back below 26,000 points for the first time since the beginning of the month.

That S&P 500 (SPX) ended down 5.9%, closing at the lowest total point since the end of May. Only one S&P stock, wholesale chain Kroger (KR), closed in positive territory.

That Nasdaq Composite (COMP), which reached an all-time high on the first three days of the week, closed 5.3% lower. The index recorded three consecutive all-time highs at the beginning of the week and ended above 10,000 points for the first time in history Wednesday, but on Thursday it fell back to levels not seen since late May.

US crude oil prices closed at $ 36.34 a barrel, down 8.2%.

The increasing number of corona virus cases in the United States has scared Wall Street. The second wave of infection can force many businesses to close again right after they are reopened.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US economy would not close again even though the number of cases had increased.

“We cannot kill the economy anymore. I think we have learned that if you shut down the economy, you will create more damage, and not only economic damage, but there are other areas,” he told CNBC in an interview.

Mnuchin said more than one trillion dollars would be pumped into the economy over the next month.

Although Powell acknowledged that the May jobs report, which showed 2.5 million jobs were added to the economy, was a welcome surprise, he noted that millions of Americans would never return to their jobs and could remain unemployed for years.

The Fed projects the unemployment rate to fall to 9.3% at the end of the year from 13.3% in May. Before the pandemic, in February, the unemployment rate approached a 50-year low of 3.5%.

Gross domestic product – the largest economy size in the country – is expected to plummet 6.5% this year before the rebound.

The central bank is expected to maintain its stimulus for the foreseeable future. The central bank does not expect to raise interest rates this year or in 2021, according to the so-called dot plot, which maps the expectations of members of the monetary policy committee. Even in 2022, only two policymakers expect an increase.

“We are not thinking about raising interest rates – we are not even thinking about raising interest rates,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters at a press conference.

Usually low interest rates are good for stocks because it is getting cheaper for companies to borrow money. But at this time, low interest rates for a longer period also means that the economy will not be re-established for a while.

President Donald Trump said in a tweet that the Fed was often wrong, adding “We will have a very good Third Quarter, a great Fourth Quarter, and one of our best years in 2021.”

Coronavirus infection

When countries throughout the country reopen their economies, people are forced to coexist with the virus. The closely watched coronavirus model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington was updated on Wednesday now estimating nearly 170,000 deaths from coronavirus in the United States on October 1.

“If the US cannot check growth in September, we can face a worsening trend in October, November, and the following months if a pandemic, as we predict, follows the pneumonia season,” IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray said in a statement.

The number of global cases also continues to increase, with almost 7.4 million confirmed confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins University. Brazil, Russia, Britain and India have the most cases after the United States. More than 415,000 people worldwide have died.

Hopeless hope

Many investors have bet on a quick recovery for the world’s largest economy.

On Thursday, the S&P was negative again for this year and the Nasdaq returned below the key threshold.

But the increasing number of cases of corona virus in the United States coupled with dire economic projections from experts including the US central bank shows ongoing pain for companies and workers. Gloomy outlook now may be increasingly difficult to ignore.

Stephen Innes, head of global market strategy at AxiCorp, said on Thursday that the market was having a hard time digesting headlines indicating an outbreak of a new virus in the United States. “Secondary outbreaks have nothing to do with sneezing,” he said.

– Faith Karimi, Arman Azad, Joe Sutton, Betsy Klein and Paul La Monica contributed reporting.