New York(ANN)-#Coronavirus causes global stock market downturn, the Losses on Wall Street deepened Friday morning following a bruising open, as global markets were poised to conclude their worst week since 2008 with another rout.
About 1510 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 940 points, or 3.6 percent, at 24,829.83.
The broad-based S&P 500 sank 3.6 percent to 2,872.72, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 3.1 percent to 8,304.42. reported by AFP.
Dow loses grip on psychologically significant level at 25,000 as selling accelerates Friday.
The news of the global stock market has also been revealed by reports that have shocked the world.
Stocks on Friday deepened a weekly rout as investor fears rose over the potential degree of damage the fast-spreading COVID-19 virus will inflect on the global economy and supply chains.
How are major benchmarks trading?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.66% were off 950 points, or 3.7%, at 24,817, pushing the blue-chips below a psychologically significant level at 25,000, while the S&P 500 SPX, -2.08% dropped 102 points, or 3.4%, at 2,876, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -1.24% fell 241 points, or 2.8%, to 8,322.
Read: Dow’s weekly skid would rank within the top 15 worst in its 124-year history
All three U.S. benchmark stock indexes closed in correction territory Thursday, defined as a decline of at least 10%, but not more than 20%, from a recent peak.
U.S. stocks were on track for their biggest weekly decline since 2008. The Dow is now down 9.71% for the year, while the S&P 500 is off 7.80% year-to-date, and the Nasdaq has lost 4.53%, as of Thursday’s close.
What’s driving the market?
There are few signs investors are eager to wade back into the market following the acceleration of the selloff late Thursday, which resulted in the Dow shedding nearly 1,200 points.
“There is no sign of widespread bargain hunting by investors despite the cut-price shares on offer. That might not happen until there is a clearer picture of how far and wide coronavirus has spread and how different countries are trying to contain it,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, in a note.
Analysts at UniCredit Bank said a bottom for stocks would probably require a clear sign of a leveling off in the number of confirmed cases in China of COVID-19, the infectious disease that reportedly originated in Wuhan, China late last year. Based on the latest statistics, that looked unlikely to materialize in the next few days. according reported by marketwatch.
“Consequently, the rout in equity markets, and with it, the ongoing decline in U.S. Treasury and (German) bund yields, is most probably not over yet,” they wrote. Treasurys and other core government bonds have rallied, pushing down yields, which move in the opposite direction of bond prices, as the stock-market rout has intensified.
Investors have endured days of increasingly grim updates on the spread of the coronavirus, as new infections continue to rise even as countries enact stronger and stronger measures. New Zealand and Nigeria were among the latest countries to report their cases.
The outbreak has the potential to become a pandemic and is at a decisive stage, the head of the World Health Organization said on Thursday. Investors failed to find reassurances from remarks by President Donald Trump late Wednesday on U.S. efforts to contain the spread of the outbreak.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard on Friday, speaking in Fort Smith, Ark., said that further interest-rate cuts are a possibility if a global pandemic actually develops, with health effects approaching the scale of ordinary influenza. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said Friday he will be ready to make a judgment about the need for a possible rate cut when the Fed’s interest rate committee meets again on March 17-18.
Read: 5 reasons stocks are seeing their worst decline since 2008, and only one is the coronavirus
In economic news, consumer spending increased a mild 0.2% last month, the government said Friday, a tick below the MarketWatch forecast. Meanwhile, incomes shot up 0.6% — the biggest gain in 11 months — but the increase included annual cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits as well as tax credits tied to the Affordable Care Act.
Separately, a measure of business conditions in the Chicago region improved in February but remained in contraction territory. The Chicago PMI business barometer increased to 49.0 this month from 42.9 in January, MNI Indicators said Friday. Any reading below 50 indicates worsening conditions. A report on trading activity showed that the U.S.’s trade deficit in goods narrowed 4.6% in January, according to the Commerce Department’s advanced estimate released Friday.
And a consumer sentiment index in February rose to 100.0 from a preliminary reading of 100.9.
Which companies are in focus?
- Emerson Electric Co. EMR, -1.60% on Friday said it expects the coronavirus outbreak to shave $100 million to $150 million off second-quarter sales, up from a previous estimate of $75 million to $100 million. Shares fell 2.8%.
- Shares of Wayfair Inc. W, -12.64% fell 20% after the e-commerce home retailer reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.
- Dell Technologies Inc. DELL, -4.80% shares were 6.3% lower after the tech company late Thursday reported earnings that were in line with expectations. Opinion:Dell counting on server rebound to make up for expected PC slowdown
- Zoom Video Communications ZM, -9.66% rose 2% as investors viewed the videoconferencing company as likely to see a bump from the viral outbreak.
- NanoViricides Inc. NNVC, -4.82% rose nearly 5% and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. INO, +2.52% advanced 5.3% as the pharmaceutical companies were seen as good buys amid coronavirus.
What are other markets doing?
Asian markets took up the baton from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei 225 index NIK, -3.67% finishing down nearly 3.7%, as Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked schools to close for a month and Tokyo Disney Resort operator Oriental Land Co. 4661, +0.66% said it would close its theme parks for two weeks. The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -3.55% pushed further into correction territory, sinking 2.8%.
Government bonds saw a massive rally on Friday as investors scrambled for safety, sending yields further into record-setting territory. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury TMUBMUSD10Y, -7.77% remained 7.7 basis points lower at 1.219%.
Crude-oil prices CLJ22, -2.90% on Friday slid over 2%, while gold, a traditional safe-haven investment, was down 1%. The ICE Dollar Index DXY, -0.10% fell 0.2%. Investors flocked to the yen, with the currency up 0.8% against the dollar at 108.87, while the New Zealand dollar NZDUSD, -1.1892% plunged 1% on news of the country’s first infection.
