The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost early mild gains, falling to around 0.6% in mid-afternoon trade as it tries to fight its way out of the coronavirus stock market crash. The Dow industrials have now dropped 10% or more for the week in three of the past four weeks. IBD's current outlook for stocks was downgraded from an "uptrend under pressure" to "market in correction" on Feb. 25.

The Dow industrials have now dropped 10% or more for the week in three of the past four weeks. IBD's current outlook for stocks was downgraded from an "uptrend under pressure" to "market in correction" on Feb. 25. That meant it was time to quickly raise cash, sell the worst performers in your portfolio, and avoid making new stock and ETF buys.

At around 2 p.m. ET Friday, the S&P 500 slumped nearly 0.9%, while the Russell 2000 edged just above break-even. Innovator IBD 50FFTY, which gained 25.7% in 2019, rallied more than 1.4%. But the growth stock-focused ETF remains down 26% year to date.

Volume is flying higher vs. the same time Thursday on both main exchanges as weekly and monthly stock and index options expire.

Still Beating the Dow Jones In 2020

The Nasdaq composite started out strong, rising as much as 2.8% in the early going. But stocks retreated on news that New York is following California's lead in ordering most residents to stay at home in an attempt to slow the acceleration in confirmed Covid-19 cases nationwide.

In afternoon trading, the tech-centered index was down 0.4% as it faces a weekly loss of nearly 10%. At the week's low of 6686, the Nasdaq has now fallen 33% below its 9938 all-time peak.

That makes the coronavirus correction one of the biggest bear markets over the past 30 years.