U.S. stocks were down sharply at midday on Wednesday as the first diagnosis of Ebola in a patient in the United States spooked investors and pressured shares of airlines and other transportation-related shares.
Small-cap stocks were seeing big losses for a second day, with the Russell 2000 index down 0.9 percent, now nearly 10 percent below its high.
Shares of American Airlines were down 2.2 percent while shares of Delta were down 2.4 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation Average was down 1.7 percent, on track for its biggest daily percentage decline since June.
