Stocks slide posting weekly losses
Investors head into the weekend with lighter equity exposure
U.S. equity markets closed out the week on a down note as the coronavirus' spread outside of China accelerated and investors took a cautious stance heading into the weekend.
The declines are the first weekly loss in three. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 dipped around 1 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 230 points closing below the 29,000 level.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5969.34 | +20.63 | +0.35% |
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 44296.51 | +426.16 | +0.97% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 19003.651134 | +31.23 | +0.16% |
The latest figures out of China showed the number of new cases continued to slow. The National Health Commission said there were 889 new coronavirus cases and 118 deaths in the country in the 24 hours through Thursday, raising the totals to 75,465 and 2,236, respectively. China’s Shanghai Composite outperformed, adding 0.3 percent.
CORONAVIRUS SPREAD THREATENS STOCK MARKET'S IMMUNITY
In corporate news, late Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a probe into Altria's $12.8 billion investment in e-ciggarate maker JUUL back in 2018.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MO | ALTRIA GROUP INC. | 56.73 | +0.70 | +1.25% |
Coca-Cola was the latest U.S. company to warn the coronavirus outbreak would ding its quarterly results. The soft-drink giant expects a 1- to 2-cent earnings per share hit to first-quarter earnings, but maintained its full-year guidance.
On the earnings front, Deere & Co. reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results and said it was seeing a stabilization in the U.S. farm industry, which has been ravaged by the trade war with China.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KO | THE COCA-COLA CO. | 63.91 | +0.15 | +0.24% |
| DE | DEERE & CO. | 446.65 | +9.11 | +2.08% |
Elsewhere, Sprint and T-Mobile amended the terms of their merger, reducing the size of the stake held by Japanese telecom giant SoftBank while raising Deutsche Telecom’s ownership.
HP adopted a poison pill in an attempt to fight off Xerox’s takeover attempt. The company’s board of directors adopted a shareholder rights plan that gives shareholders the right to purchase stock at a discount if a person or group acquires 20 percent or more of HP’s common shares.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | SENTINELONE INC | 28.54 | +0.41 | +1.46% |
| TMUS | T-MOBILE US INC. | 238.28 | +1.70 | +0.72% |
| HP | HELMERICH & PAYNE INC. | 36.06 | +1.63 | +4.73% |
| XRX | XEROX HOLDINGS CORP. | 9.04 | +0.29 | +3.31% |
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo shares rose. The bank announced a $3 billion settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over abuses in its banking and lending practices
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WFC | WELLS FARGO & CO. | 75.92 | +1.09 | +1.46% |
Commodities trading was mixed, with gold up 1.5 percent at a seven-year high of $1,645 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude oil down 1.4 percent, at $53.12 a barrel.
U.S. Treasurys rallied, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down 4.2 basis points to 1.483 percent, its lowest since September.
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European markets recouped the majority of their early losses. France’s CAC and Germany’s DAX were both little changed while Britain’s FTSE was down 0.3 percent.
Asian markets took a heavier hit after South Korea reported 52 new cases of the coronavirus, raising the country’s total to 156, most of which have occurred since Wednesday. South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 1.5 percent on the news while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.1 percent and Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.4 percent.