U.S. stock futures drop after Trump fails to reassure traders, new California case
Published: Feb 27, 2020 4:20 a.m. ET
Futures down following a fifth straight day of losses for Dow, S&P 500
Associated PressPresident Donald Trump speaks Wednesday night at the White House, along with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, right.By
MIKEMURPHY
EDITOR
U.S. stock futures were down sharply Thursday, after a news conference by President Donald Trump failed to reassure investors and as a new case of coronavirus with no known origin was discovered in California.
In choppy action reminiscent of recent days, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, -0.51% sank more than 200 points, but nearly 400 points at one stage, while S&P 500 ES00, -0.51% and Nasdaq Composite futures NQ00, -0.48% were also off by 0.7%. European stocks opened sharply lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, -1.99% dropping 2.3%.
“There’s no reason to be panicked,” Trump said Wednesday evening at a White House press briefing, as he played down the risks and said the nation is well-prepared for a possible Covid-19 outbreak. He also announced Vice President Mike Pence has been put in charge of the country’s outbreak response.
Meanwhile a new coronavirus case was confirmed in Northern California, the first in the U.S. by someone who hasn’t traveled to infected areas or been in known contact with anyone who has, raising the worrisome prospect that the virus is spreading by other means.
Jeffrey Halley, senior Asia Pacific market analyst at Oanda, wrote in a note: “President Trump finally addressed the arrival of coronavirus on U.S. shores, and the government’s response to controlling its potential spread. . . .Neither inspired an already shaky North American market.”
Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp, had a grim prediction as he addressed the new California case, in a note: “If this virus spread intensifies stateside, it will most definitely be the straw that breaks the market back.”
Also rattling investors, Germany’s health minister said Wednesday that the country was at the “beginning of an epidemic,” as it struggled to track the contacts of a 47-year old, hospitalized in a serious condition with the virus.
Earlier Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +1.25% warned it won’t meet its quarterly forecasts due to the effects of the outbreak, likely signaling more widespread guidance misses across the tech industry.
On Wall Street, the Dow and S&P 500 index fell for a fifth straight day on continued fears of the coronavirus outbreak’s impact on global economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.46% fell 123.77 points, or 0.5%, to settle at 26,957.50, marking the worst five-day point drop for the blue-chip index on record. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.38% shed 11.82 points, or 0.4%, to close at 3,116.39, while the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.17% added 15.16 points, or 0.2%, to close at 8,980.77, snapping a four-day losing streak.
Asian markets continued to fall Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei NIK, -2.13% down 2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng HSI, +0.31% off 0.7% and South Korea’s Kospi 180721, -1.05% slipping 0.8%.
After falling for a fourth consecutive session Wednesday, oil futures continued to drop overnight, with West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery CLJ20, -1.68% and Brent crude, the global BRNJ20, -1.65% down more than 1%.
