Wall Street opens in red, Facebook suffers heavy losses

• Facebook slump weighs on Communication Services Index on Thursday.
• CBOE Volatility Index rises sharply amid heightened fears over coronavirus outbreak.

Wall Street's main indexes turned south at the opening bell on Thursday as the heightened fears over coronavirus hurting the global economy force investors to seek refuge. As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.15% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were erasing 0.3% and 0.08%.

Reflecting the sour market mood, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is up nearly 6% on the day.

Facebook underperforms

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the Communication Services Index is down 1.7% hurt by a 7% drop in Facebook, which reported a slowdown in profit growth in the fourth quarter, shares. On the other hand, the Technology Index is the only major sector in the positive territory in the early trade, adding 0.4%.