Market Summary
Fears about the continued spread of the coronavirus rolled the equity market to negative yesterday, erasing the year to date gains across the board. Monday's coronavirus-driven drop saw the Dow record its third-worst drop ever by falling more than 1,000 points, the S&P 500 shed $920B in value. The virus continues to weaken global supply chains and dent company profits. Of the 364 companies that have held Q4 earnings calls, over half citied the coronavirus and about 25% of those included some forward looking negative impact on earnings in the future, according to FactSet.
The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has jumped to 53, most of them connected to the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Hong Kong extended all school closures till mid-April, a cabin crew member of Korean Air tested positive for the coronavirus and the CDC raised the U.S. travel advisory alert for South Korea, where cases have risen to 893.
Expectations for a Fed rate cut are rising. US central bank officials are reluctant to factor in the virus as a reason to cut rates, however they have noted that current issues are clearly skewed to the downside and they are monitoring the situation.
US Economy - The Week Ahead
Tuesday, 2/25/2020
Wednesday, 2/26/2020
US new home sales
Thursday, 2/27/2020
Friday, 2/28/2020
US Personal income and Spending
