Stocks - Wall Street Selling Gains Steam
Investing.com
Published Apr 03, 2020 09:28AM ET
Updated Apr 03, 2020 11:30AM ET
By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets fell in late morning trading Friday after government data suggested that the U.S. economy shed jobs faster than widely expected as the Covid-19 started to hit and deaths in New York saw the biggest one-day rise.
By 11:25 AM ET (1525 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 370 points, or 1.7%, while the S&P 500 was down 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite was off 1.3%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics had said earlier that nonfarm employment in the U.S. fell by 701,000 in the month to mid-March, far more than the 100,000 drop expected.
Even those data have been largely rendered meaningless by the record spike in jobless claims in the two weeks since the cut-off date for the BLS’s report. In those two weeks, some 10 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits.
Later this morning, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said New York deaths from Covid-19 rose to 2935 from 2373.
Among individual stocks, the standout outperformer was Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), which said after the bell on Thursday that it had delivered 88,400 cars in the first quarter. The company noted that it deliveries of its Model Y crossover SUV had begun in January and continued 'well ahead of schedule.' Tesla stock rose 7%.
Carnival (NYSE:CCL) shares rose 3% as the market digested the cruise line operator's mammoth refinancing earlier in the week.
Oil producers were also in the spotlight again, as newswire reports appeared to show the makings of a global agreement to cut oil supplies and rebalance a market that is struggling badly with oversupply due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The OPEC+ group of oil exporters, which includes Russia and Saudi Arabia, is set to hold a virtual meeting on Monday, while President Donald Trump is set to meet with representatives of the U.S. oil industry later Friday. Newswires reported a draft proposal from OPEC that Saudi Arabia was prepared to cut at least 3 million barrels a day of production, and Russia 1.5 million, if other producers such as the U.S., Canada and Brazil cut 2 million b/d.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Investing.com
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.