Bryan R Smith
- US stock indexes slid more than 5% lower on Wednesday as traders waited for new details on the White House’s stimulus plan in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
- Losses extended in afternoon trading after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic.
- The Dow Jones industrial average’s plunge put it on pace to close in a bear market. That would end the longest bull market expansion in history.
- Economic-relief measures were expected to be announced Tuesday, but apart from reports of a payroll-tax cut through November, investors are in the dark about when the stimulus could arrive and what it would look like.
- The decline wiped out most gains made in Tuesday’s rebound and continued the trend of heightened market volatility amid the coronavirus outbreak and the new oil-price war.
- Watch major indexes update live here.
US stocks slid on Wednesday as investors mulled the timeline for the White House’s stimulus measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
All three major indexes tanked more than 5%, erasing gains made during Tuesday’s rebound. The drop ushered in another day of heightened volatility from coronavirus risks and the escalating oil-market war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The Dow Jones industrial average slid into bear market territory. If it closes at those levels, it would mark the end of the 11-year equity bull market. Losses extended in afternoon trading after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic.
Investors initially expected stimulus details to be announced Tuesday. Markets surged through the previous session amid reports that President Donald Trump wanted to cut payroll taxes through the November election. The fiscal stimulus would join the Federal Reserve’s early-March monetary-policy boost.
The White House said on Monday that it was crafting a plan to bolster the US economy amid the coronavirus outbreak, but details remained scarce heading into the third trading session since the announcement.
Here’s where major US indexes stood as of 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday:
Wednesday’s early trading pushed equities closer to their Monday lows. Markets plummeted at the start of the week as stock investors reacted to the start of an oil-price war. Oil saw its worst single-day decline since the Gulf War broke out in 1991, while equities closed Monday’s session with their biggest drop since the financial crisis.
The world’s two largest oil exporters have only ratcheted up tensions since, issuing production bumps and price cuts to grasp market share. While lower oil prices could help consumers at the pump, any benefit from the price battle will be swiftly reversed by the coronavirus-driven pullback in travel activity, Bank of America economists wrote in a Tuesday note.
Goldman Sachs joined other financial giants on Wednesday in revising its S&P 500 earnings estimate lower, citing the growing fallout from the coronavirus outbreak and the new oil-market chaos. Analysts at the firm said they expected the benchmark index to post its first annual profit contraction in five years as the two threats tear into corporate growth and economic activity.
The 11-year bull market “will soon end” as the global economy grapples with escalating risks, but markets should bounce back once the virus can be contained, Goldman said.
“We expect the economic weakness will ultimately be short-lived, with much of the lost activity recouped in 2021,” the analysts added.
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