Stocks capped a volatile week with steep losses Friday as coronavirus cases in the U. S. surged to a new daily record, dimming the prospects of…
Stocks capped a volatile week with steep losses Friday as coronavirus cases in the U. S. surged to a new daily record, dimming the prospects of a quick economic recovery after some states paused their reopening efforts in the wake of more outbreaks.
Investors are looking ahead to a possible rebound from the deepest global downturn since the 1930s and trying to buy companies that will thrive after the pandemic ends, analysts say. But they warn the market rise might be too fast and too early to be sustained by an uncertain economic outlook.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 730.05 points, or 2.8%, to 25,015.55, erasing all of Thursday’s gains after the blue-chip average jumped 300 points as regulators loosened some financial regulations on banks. The Standard & Poor’s 500 slid 2.4% to 3,009.05.
The Nasdaq, which hit an all-time high earlier this week, fell 2.6% to 9,757.22. For the week, all three major averages shed at least 2%.
Despite the recent bout of volatility, the S&P 500 index is still on pace for its best quarter since 1998.
“The week is ending on a disappointing note, as U. S. virus cases rise and investors fret that lockdowns will have to be reimposed, or worse that they won’t be, and the death toll will grow sharply,” Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group, an online trading provider, said in a note. “The weakness of the past few days doesn’t augur well for a market sorely in need of further catalysts for this over-extended rally.”
The U. S. reported 39,972 daily cases of the coronavirus Thursday, a new daily record, according to a database maintained by Johns Hopkins University.
