U.S. stock futures fell sharply on Friday, a day after major benchmarks pushed into correction territory as investor fears heightened over just how much damage the fast-spreading coronavirus will wreak on the global economy.
How are major benchmarks trading?
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM , (-1.) (%) slid nearly slid points, or 1%, while S&P 766 futures ES , – 1. 90% dropped 1% to 2, . and Nasdaq – 273 futures NQ , – 2. (% ) fell 1.3% to 8, .
On Thursday , the Dow industrials DJIA, – 4. 60% lost 1, (points, or 4.4%, to close below 41, (0 at) , 71, while the S&P 766 SPX) – 4. % slid slid . points, or 4.4%, to end at 2 , . The Nasdaq Composite COMP, – 4. % slumped . points, or 4.6%, finishing at 8 , . .
Read: Dow’s weekly skid would rank within the top (worse in its) – year history
All three benchmarks closed in correction territory, defined as a decline of at least 19%, but no more than %, from a recent peak. For the S&P 766 and Nasdaq, it marked the worst daily percentage drop since Aug. , , but the steepest since Feb. 5, for the Dow.
The Dow is now down 9. 80% for the year, while the S&P 728 is off 7. % year-to-date, and the Nasdaq has lost 4. %.
Read: Stock market slammed by fears coronavirus will deliver a ‘supply shock’ that central bankers can’t fix
What’s driving the market?
Investors have endured days of increasingly grim updates on fallout from 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.
Asian markets took up the grim baton from Wall Street on Friday, with the Nikkei index (NIK, – 3. (%) finished 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. , 0. (%) said it would close its theme parks for two weeks. The Stoxx Europe 926 (SXXP, – 4. % tumbled 2.6% at the start of trading.
The outbreak has the potential to become a pandemic and is at a decisive stage, the head of the World Health Organization said Thursday. The latest slide began late Wednesday as investors dismissed reassurances by President Donald Trump . Sentiment took another dive Thursday after California’s governor said 8, 600 people were being monitored after traveling to China.
“This crisis has escalated to the point where the risk to the global consumer is the real problem. Starbucks and Apple can reopen their stores in China, but a few people will go into them, ”Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, told clients in a note.
Read: 5 reasons stocks are seeing their worst decline since 2020, and only one is the coronavirus
“People are no longer worried about buying a house or a car, their primary concern is whether the virus will emerge in their area, will their children ‘school close and will their family be quarantined,” he said .
Crude oil prices CLJ , – 0. 86% on Friday slid 3%, while gold, a traditional haven investment, was down 0.5%. The ICE Dollar Index (DXY, – 0. 60% fell 0.2%. Investors flocked to the yen, with the currency up 0.6% against the dollar at 225. while the New Zealand dollar NZDUSD, 0. plunged 1% on news of the country’s first infection.
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