- The Dow Jones crashed another 700 points on Thursday.
- A brief Dow recovery was ended as California Governor Gavin Newsom announced 8,400 potential coronavirus cases are being monitored in the state.
- Further spooking the stock market, Goldman Sachs claimed that the epidemic could cost Trump reelection in November.
The Dow Jones crashed back into correction territory on Thursday after California Governor Gavin Newsom revealed that the state was monitoring 8,400 people for potential coronavirus infections.
Adding to the dark mood, Goldman Sachs slashed its profit outlook and warned the outbreak could cost Donald Trump reelection in November.
Dow Jones Plummets on California’s Coronavirus Shocker
All three of the major U.S. equity indices flailed on Thursday as volatility rocked stock markets worldwide.
- The Dow plunged 692.55 points or 2.57% to 26,265.04.
- The S&P 500 slid 2.43% to 3,040.74.
- The Nasdaq dipped 2.62% to 8,744.64.
The same reversal of fortunes was seen in the commodity sector, where market conditions continue to dictate risk-on and risk-off correlated moves.
Safe-haven gold dropped after a strong start to the day but rallied late in the session to trade flat at $1,643. Crude oil was in free fall at the beginning of the session but steadied to just under $47.
Coronavirus Continues to Overshadow Economic Data
Positive U.S. economic data did little for the Dow, as pending home sales beat forecasts and rebounded from last month’s massive contraction. GDP came in at 2.1% as expected, while core durable goods orders were solid with a 0.9% reading.
Deeply concerned with the huge drop in the Dow Jones over the last few days, Donald Trump appointed Mike Pence as coronavirus “czar.”
This did nothing to support stocks, as the first case of community spread was announced in California shortly after the president’s press conference.
The situation in the Golden State may be getting even worse. Health officials are currently monitoring 8,400 potential coronavirus cases in the United States’ most populous state and largest economy.
Goldman Sachs: Coronavirus Threatens Trump’s Reelection
Goldman Sachs may have done even more damage to the stock market than California, though. Goldman analyst Ben Snider warned that the coronavirus outbreak could stop Trump from winning reelection in November.
If the coronavirus epidemic materially affects US economic growth it may increase the likelihood of Democratic victory in the 2020 election.
Given that left-wing Bernie Sanders is the Democratic front-runner, this prediction could have a dramatic impact on the stock market.
Wall Street has been extremely confident of another Trump victory for some time.
Adding to the stock market’s woes, the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced 14 new cases of the coronavirus, indicating that the disease’s spread out of Italy looks very real.
As the economic engine of the world’s second-largest economic area, trouble for Germany would be particularly meaningful for global markets.
Stock Market Falls Despite Expectation of Fed Rate Cuts
The Dow Jones is falling rapidly even as investors aggressively price for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates multiple times this year.
Investors clearly expect more central bank stimulus. But it might not be this simple, according to economists Morten Lund and Anders Svendsen at Nordea.
They warn in their “Fed Watch” report that there may only be one cut on the way in 2020:
Overall, our base case is that the Fed will cut one more time in 2020 – probably in June. If the coronavirus is not soon contained, we think a rate cut in April could be on the cards.
Such an outcome could be disappointing to a Dow Jones that has come to rely heavily on the outlook for loose monetary policy.
Dow Stocks: Apple and Microsoft Struggle
Today’s Dow 30 downturn was headlined by its biggest tech giants.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) each fell more than 4.5% on the day. Both of these trillion-dollar companies have reported earnings downgrades due to the impact of the coronavirus.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) was off 2.7% as it slashed its profit outlook.
Continuing to defy gravity, 3M (NYSE: MMM), one of the largest manufacturers of medical masks, jumped 2.5%.
This article was edited by Josiah Wilmoth.
