U.S. stocks fell almost 10% on Thursday as the S&P 500 Index joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average by entering into a bear market. After market close on Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that the Trump administration will provide financial relief for workers who miss work due to COVID-19. However, market participants were not assured that this financial response would help the potential slowing of economic growth the the outbreak could bring to global markets, leading to another major sell-off on Thursday.
Here's how the market settled after Thursday's major sell-off:
S&P 500 Index (SPY ): -9.50% or -260.44 points to 2,480.94
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA ): -9.99% or -2,352.85 points to 21,200.37
Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ ): -9.43% or -750.25 points to 7,201.80
In Major Stock News, Airline stocks--American Airlines (AAL ), Delta Air Lines (DAL ) and United Airlines (UAL )--all plummeted during trade on Thursday due to President Donald Trump's 30 day restriction on travel between the U.S. and Europe. Over travel stocks--Carnival Corp. (CCL ), Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH ), Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL ), Las Vega Sands Corp. (LVS ), Wynn Resorts (WYNN )--all faced deeper losses on Thursday's market free-fall. MGM Resorts International (MGM ) also plummeted further after the resort chain announced that a guest had tested positive for the virus. Shares of Boeing (BA ) took another direct hit on Thursday after JPMorgan (JPM ) downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight as investors begin to fear a global recession. Homebuilder stocks--D.R. Horton (DHI ), KB Home (KBH ) and Lennar Corp. (LEN )--all fell more than the broader market in Thursday's sell-off over recession fears hurting the housing market. Nike (NKE ) shares declined after the company's CEO said the U.S. footwear imports from China had their worst January in a decade.
In Stock Sector News, all sectors plunged deep into bear market on Thursday. The performance declines are as follows: Energy -12.30%, Financials -10.77%, Industrials -10.33%, Utilities -10.19%, Information Technology -9.84%, Consumer Discretionary -9.80%, Materials -9.61%, Consumer Staples -9.24%, Communication Services -8.91%, Real Estate -8.70% and Health Care -7.41%.
Lastly, in Commodity and Currency News, the global oil price war is pushing U.S. shale towards default as price continue to push lower. West Texas Intermediate (USO ) dropped -6.43% and Brent Crude (BNO ) sunk -8.37% as crude prices rest between $30-$33 per barrel. Gold (GLD ) also declined during the major market sell-off on Thursday, with prices dropping -3.78% making the metal 1,576.45 per ounce. Finally, the U.S. Dollar (UUP ) gained more strength against global currencies on Thursday, with the DXY Index increasing +0.87%.
