The week’s record rally ran out of gas Friday, even after the House passed the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that President Donald Trump is set to sign today, plus more in today’s Closing Bell on Money & Markets.
The Top Story
Stocks dropped by as much as 4.8% during trading this morning, pared some losses and then sank again late after the House passed the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, which is the largest relief package in U.S. history. The stimulus will attempt to help people and companies weather economic fallout caused by the pandemic.
It was still not enough as equities head faked after a massive double-digit, three-day rally. Markets were hit early with news that the U.S. now has the most confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world.
The U.S. now has more than 85,000 cases and 1,200 deaths.
“We have still not fully understood the degree of the economic impact,” warned Massud Ghaussy, senior analyst at Nasdaq IR Intelligence in New York. “Currently, from a policymaker’s perspective, it’s a relative balance between managing the spread of the virus and opening the economy.”
The biggest mover to push the Dow Jones lower was Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) which dropped 10.2% after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the aircraft manufacturer won’t seek a bailout.
The Dow saw its strongest three-day performance since 1931 Tuesday through Thursday this week, surging 21%, and then dropping 915 points Friday.
The S&P 500 also rallied from an early hole to be down just 1%, but quickly sank during a last-minute sell-off to finish down about 3.4%. The Nasdaq sank about 3.8%.
Stock Market Update: Closing Bell*
S&P 500: 2,541 (-3.4%)
DOW: 21,636 (-4.1%)
NASDAQ: 7,502 (-3.8%)
GOLD: $1,651.10 (-0.5%)
BITCOIN: $6,648.76 (-0.7%)
U.S. 10-YEAR YIELD: 0.68%
*- as of 4:17 p.m.
A Big Win
In this morning’s Opening Bell, we told you to watch Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) after it was reported it will cut on-site staff at its Storey County, Nevada facility by 75%. Shares of Tesla fell 2.6%
Shares of Beyond Meat Inc. (Nasdaq: BYND) dropped 7% after it was downgraded to “sell” by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) earlier in the day.
Golden Nuggets
Most precious metal futures fell on corrective pullback measures Friday.
Gold futures were down 0.5% to $1,650.60 an ounce. Despite the decline, gold was tracking for its biggest weekly gain since 2008.
Silver futures dropped 0.8% to $14.54 an ounce.
Palladium moved 2.9% lower to $2,160. Platinum was the only metal that survived the pullback, gaining 0.4% to trade at $740 an ounce, eyeing its biggest weekly gain on record.
Cannabis Corner
The spread of the coronavirus has even changed how cannabis suppliers are doing business.
Colorado marijuana dispensary chain Native Roots said its Boulder location received the state’s first cannabis delivery license.
The license is not directly tied to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the timing is great considering officials continue to caution residents to stay home.
Consumer Sentiment Drops to Lowest Level in 3 Years
Data from the University of Michigan showed U.S. consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest level in more than three years.
In March, the index dropped to 89.1 — the lowest it’s been since October 2016 — from 101 in February. That’s an 11.8% drop.
Richard Curtin, chief economist of the Survey of Consumers, said it is the fourth-largest decline in nearly 50 years. He added that if the index stabilizes at its current seven-day average, sentiment will drop another 18.2 index points in April.
“Stabilizing confidence at its month’s end level will be difficult given surging unemployment and falling household incomes,” he said. “The extent of additional declines in April will depend on the success in curtailing the spread of the virus and how quickly households receive funds to relieve their financial hardships.”
The consumer confidence news comes just one day after the Department of Labor announced a record surge of 3 million jobless claims last week.
Today’s Big Winners:
Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE: EXR) +6.4%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) +3.7%
Proctor & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) +2.6%
Citrix Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS) +1.6%
Today’s Big Losers:
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) -23.4%
Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) -19%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (Nasdaq: WYNN) -11.4%
Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) -10.2%
American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL) -10.3%
Check back for the most important news and numbers each day after the Closing Bell, only on Money & Markets.