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U.S. stocks slid Thursday following a massive jump in coronavirus cases. Several economists remained concern that the outbreak of this pandemic will significantly delay Chinese as well as global economic recovery. All three major stock indexes ended in red.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) tumbled 0.4% or 128.11 points to close at 29,423.31. The S&P 500 declined 0.2% to close at 3,373.94. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 9,711.97, dropping 0.1%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) increased 2% to close at 14.15. A total of 6.86 billion shares were traded Thursday, lower than the last 20-session average of 7.64 billion. Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE 1.04-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.01-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow closed in negative territory with 20 components of the 30-stock index closing in the red while 10 ended in green. The Nasdaq Composite also ended in the negative territory due to weak performance by large-cap stocks. The S&P 500 finished in the red. The Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) declined 0.6% while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) gained 1.1%. Notably, seven out of 11 sectors of the benchmark index closed in the red while four finished in green.
Spike in Coronavirus Cases
On Feb 12, China confirmed 15,152 new cases of coronavirus with 254 deaths recorded in a single day.The Chinese authorities have already confirmed that as many as 1,367 people have died due to coronavirus and the total number of confirmed cases in the country has risen to nearly 60,000.
At present, economists are uncertain regarding as to how the coronavirus outbreak will impact the global economy. Several economists are of the opinion that the impact of coronavirus may be much larger. During 2002-2003, China commanded around 4% of the global economy. However, the Asian economic powerhouse now commands more than 16% of the global economy.
In fact, China has become the backbone of global supply-chain system. Its low-cost intermediary products are used as inputs to several high-tech corporate behemoths. Similarly, the cheap Chinese electrical and electronics final goods are immensely popular worldwide.
Fourth Quarter Earnings Results
Zoetis Inc. ZTS posted fourth-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings of $0.92 per share (excluding one-time items) beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.88. Total revenues rose 7% year over year to $1.67 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.64 billion. (Read More)
Duke Energy Corp. DUK reported fourth-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings of $0.91 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.88. Total operating revenues came in at $6,103 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6,248 million. (Read More)