(CNN) -- US stocks fell into correction territory on Thursday as a selloff continued because of the coronavirus outbreak. All three major US indexes are now on track for their worst week since the financial crisis.
Stocks have been selling off around the world all week as investors fret about the spread of the virus.
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US equities opened lower, with the Dow, Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 all falling more than 10% below their most-recent peak, putting them in correction. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 also fell into correction territory Thursday.
They are still some ways away from a bear market, which is defined as 20% or more below the most recent peak.
World stocks slide on signs virus outbreak is spreading
The Dow was 600 points or 2.3% lower within the first hour of trading. The S&P 500 also dropped 2.3%. The Nasdaq, which was the only major stock index to end Wednesday in the green, fell 2.7%.
All three indexes are on track for their worst weekly percentage drop since the 2007-2009 financial crisis. For the Dow and the S&P it promises to be their worst performance since October 2008, while the Nasdaq hasn't dropped this much in a week since November 2008.
Worries about the coronavirus outbreak are mounting this week, with the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention expecting cases in the United States to rise. The virus has now infected more than 82,000 people worldwide, with the vast majority of cases in China.
Track live coronavirus updates with real-time map of confirmed cases, deaths
On the investment side, corporations continue to warn that they won't meet their first quarter earnings targets. Microsoft announced that late Wednesday. Goldman Sachs said in a report Thursday that it now thinks US companies will generate zero earnings in 2020.
"What's even more disconcerting is that the news headlines haven't been all that bad yet," said Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group. "Right now, it's the fear of what could happen that's driving the markets rather than what is actually happening."
Indeed, the US economy is thought to be relatively more resilient against the effects of the virus as it is not as reliant on trade as its peers. The second reading of fourth quarter GDP left growth unchanged at 2.1%.