Wall Street ended Friday's trading session in the positive territory, but market benchmarks posted their first weekly loss in three weeks. Investors focused again on headlines about Gilead Science's
Although treatment news continues to sway the market, weeks-long social distancing across the United States is beginning to show economic damage. According to a University of Michigan's survey, consumer sentiment had dropped almost 20% in April compared to March, indicating an ongoing recession. United States manufacturing data also showed stress and durable goods dropped the most in six years in March.
President Donald Trump signed another $486 billion coronavirus relief package on Friday afternoon, providing more funds to small businesses and hospitals, but no stimulus to state governments or individuals.
Here's how the market closed for the week:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
In Major Stock News, Boeing
In Stock Sector News, every sector ended Friday's session in the green. The performance gains were as follows: Information Technology +2.11%, Materials +1.56%, Health Care +1.44%, Consumer Discretionary +1.43%, Financials +1.41%, Consumer Staples +1.12%, Communication Services +1.06%, Industrials +0.77%, Utilities +0.63%, Real Estate +0.29% and Energy +0.21%.
In Commodity and Currency News, crude oil prices continue to rise as the trading week ends after Monday's historic crash. Investors are trading with the hope that the U.S. will make deeper cuts in production to remedy the decrease in global demand. West Texas Intermediate
For the week ahead, the Federal Reserve will hold its next monetary policy meeting next week. Investors will also focus on coronavirus headlines as well as earnings from tech giants Facebook