BEHIND THE NEWS: Trying to make sense of market mayhem
There’s little money to be made—and lots to be lost—by losing their cool when stocks go south, as they did to a historic magnitude over the past week.
There’s little money to be made—and lots to be lost—by losing their cool when stocks go south, as they did to a historic magnitude over the past week.
The bull officially ran from March 9, 2009, until Feb. 19, 2020, when it began the 26.7% dive that as of Thursday has taken it into bear market territory.
The coronavirus crisis sent stocks into another alarming slide on Wall Street on Thursday, triggering a brief, automatic shutdown in trading for the second time this week.
Stocks fell from the opening of trading in New York, including a 3.7% loss for the S&P 500. The losses deepened as the day progressed, and the Dow Jones industrial average was down more than 1,000 points in the early afternoon.
Wall Street endured another day of dizzying trading Tuesday, whipping up and down with hopes that the U.S. and other governments will cushion the economy from the pain of the coronavirus.
Markets received a bump around midday Tuesday after Vice President Mike Pence said the nation’s big health insurers would cover co-pays for coronavirus testing.
The Dow Jones industrial average on Monday suffered its steepest drop since the financial crisis of 2008.
The steep drop followed similar falls in Europe after a fight among major crude-producing countries jolted investors already on edge about the widening fallout from the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
U.S. stock markets surged Wednesday after Joe Biden’s Super Tuesday performance made a victory by Sen. Bernie Sanders less likely. Health care stocks soared.
Health care stocks led the market’s spurt Wednesday after a strong performance by Joe Biden on Super Tuesday. Among the biggest gainers was Indianapolis-based health insurer Anthem Inc., with a stock surge of 13.4%.
U.S. stocks rebounded from an early fall Tuesday, then sank again, after the Federal Reserve made an emergency rate cut to help support the economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Coming off Wall Street’s worst week since the 2008 financial crisis, the Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 1,300 points, closing up 5.1%, its largest percentage gain since March 2009.
Big technology companies like Apple are still among the most vulnerable due to disruptions in supply chains and business closures in China, but the sector led the way higher Monday.
The market clawed back much of its intraday losses in the last 15 minutes of trading. Bond prices soared as investors sought safety, pushing yields to record lows.
U.S. stock markets saw more major declines Friday morning. Traders have been growing increasingly certain that the Federal Reserve will be forced to cut interest rates to protect the economy, and soon.
The three major U.S. stock indexes now are in correction territory, a 10% reversal from recent highs.
The benchmark S&P 500 has lost 7.6% over the last four days, its worst such stretch since the end of 2018. Tuesday also marked the first back-to-back 3% losses for the index since summer 2015.
The selling wiped out all of the Dow Jones industrial average’s gains for the year. The major U.S. stock indexes all fell more than 3%.
The Dow Jones industrial average slumped more than 3% and gave up all of its gains for the year as a surge in virus cases and a worrisome spread of the disease outside the epicenter in China sent investors running for safety.
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