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U.S. stock indexes opened sharply lower Friday morning a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 booked their best three-day win streaks since the 1930s.
Investors are worried that there are now more cases of COVID-19 reported in the U.S. than in China, while awaiting the likely passage of an economic rescue bill in the House later Friday after the Senate approved the key piece of legislation late Wednesday.
How did benchmarks perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -3.88% headed 1,069 points, or 4.8%, at 21,486, the S&P 500 index SPX, -3.34% lost 109 points, or 4.2%, at 2,520, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -3.21% headed 3.8% points, or 3.9%, lower at 7,502.
On Thursday, the Dow marked its best three-day gain since 1931, while it was the best such gain for the S&P since 1933.
For the week, the Dow is on track to book a 14% gain, the S&P 500 is headed for a weekly rise of 11%, the Nasdaq Composite Index was more than 10%.
Since their peaks, the Dow still stands 26% below its record high, the S&P 500 is down 25% from its Feb. 19 peak and the Nasdaq Composite Index US:COMP is off 24% from its recent all-time high.
What’s driving the market?
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the bill will be passed in the vote later Friday but the passage of the relief bill hasn’t been without its drama. Pelosi, a Democrat representing California, has been rushing to gather House lawmakers for a vote amid the pandemic that has restricted business activity and personal travel after the prospects of a so-called phone vote looked dim.
The legislation, intended to aid to struggling Americans via direct payments and expanded unemployment insurance, is likely to be signed into law by President Donald Trump over the weekend if it passes muster on House.
Markets may also be focusing on the rising cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., after the deadly illness, which was first identified in December, overtook China, where it was reportedly originated. There are now nearly 86,000 confirmed cases of the disease in the U.S., compared with about 82,000 in China, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Check out: COVID-19 case tally: 549,604 cases, 24,863 deaths
In economic reports, a reading of consumer spending showed an increase of a mild 0.2% in February, the government said Friday. Spending, the main engine of the economy, has slowed a bit in 2020 ahead of the coronavirus. Spending is expected to dramatically weaken in the next few months as the economy falls into recession.
At 10 a.m., a report on U.S. consumer sentiment will also be released.
How are other markets trading?
In bond markets, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -11.36% gave up 5.1 basis points to 0.75%.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices were edging lower on Friday, with the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude CL00, -4.34% at $22.45 a barrel, off 17 cents or 0.8% on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In precious metals, April gold GCJ20, -1.85% retreated sharply, off $34.20, or 2.1%, to reach $1,617 an ounce after gaining 0.4% on Thursday.
The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -3.66% was headed 3.6% lower, while the FTSE 100 FTSE, -5.59% declined 4.8%, with investors watching reports that U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has contracted coronavirus.
In Asia overnight, stocks ended mixed, with the China CSI 300 000300, +0.32% rising 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.56% rose 0.6% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +3.88% surged 3.9% after tumbling 4.5% a day ago.
The U.S. dollar traded edged higher on Friday, compared with a basket of its major peers. The ICE U.S. dollar index DXY, +0.31% was up 0.1% after declining 1.7% on Thursday. The dollar index this week suffered its biggest fall since 2009 as Federal Reserve currency swaps with other central banks satisfied a shortage of dollars which had driven the index to a three year high.
