U.S. stocks dropped on Friday as a spike in new coronavirus cases in China and other countries and as data showing U.S. business activity stalled in February fueled investors’ fears about the economy. Declines on Friday were led by tech heavyweights Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon for a second straight day.
The S&P technology index dropped 2.4%. Chipmakers, with strong ties to China for revenue, also fell sharply, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index falling 3%.
China reported a jump in new cases on Friday, while South Korea became the latest hot spot with 100 new cases and more than 80 people tested positive for the virus in Japan.
“It’s creating a wild card,” for companies and others, said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Going into a weekend not so long after the stock market was hitting highs, people are taking some money off the table.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 262.56 points, or 0.9%, to 28,957.42, the S&P 500 lost 39.79 points, or 1.18%, to 3,333.44 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 189.39 points, or 1.94%, to 9,561.57.
MacDailyNews Note: According to the latest figures from Caixin, there are 75,572 confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus, with 18,277 recovered, 5,206 suspected cases, and 2,239 deaths in China. There are 1,224 confirmed cases outside of China and 11 deaths is 26 countries.
We haven’t seen anything yet. Bloodbath soon…
I was told the USA closing it’s borders to China was another sign of a xenophobe president. Out of compassion, it’s imperative we open our borders and let this virus in!
Simplistic thinking for simple people.
Ironic that the billionaire banking class has successfully brainwashed the poorer classes that only the important rich should be allowed to globetrot around the world. Goods and services, electronic data and money, that’s routed all over the planet with varying degrees of friction but zero walls. But labor- scary, dirty, sweaty, hardworking labor – well that’s gotta stay walled up. The poor working stiff on the other side of the wall is soooooo scary.
The real reasons behind this are simple: an individual corralled to a small geographic area has limited business advantages compared to multinational corporations that have no scruples. They love setting up the executives in the most expensive real estate while “enhancing shareholders value” dumping toxic shyt wherever nobody is looking.
Now the oligarchs have succeeded in ramping up xenophobia to the extent that some in”The Land of the Free” want to repeat the Great Wall experiment. Because isolationism always works so well……….
What did Reagan say about walls? Oh, sorry, Reagan was a socialist lefty to you alt right MDN trolls.
You’re off the fucking rails, even for a leftist.
That last line shows you have no grasp of reality.
I guess you’ll claim you’re a centrist though….
“The Land of the Free” put in quotes by a socialist is rather ironic. Socialists in this country are absolutely determined to chip away at or outright destroy the Bill of Rights. Big Momma Government is gonna make everything better for her babies. She will keep them on the milk, tell ’em how to think, and spank ’em when they misbehave, and if they don’t like what she does? Too bad, what are you gonna do about it!?
George Washington would be disgusted at what the USA right wing has become.
Remember, the founding fathers were all “socialist”.
Washington set up the Continental Army.
Hamilton set up the Federal Reserve.
Franklin set up public libraries, etc.
Towns like Boston held town meetings where the people, not outside corporate interests, would collectively fund all kinds of things for the public benefit, like the Boston Common.
Now the alt right, emboldened by a xenophobic president, thinks every should be for sale to the highest bidder.
Your dogdamn wall isn’t going to get paid for by Mexico and I don’t support spending billions to cleave a line through ranches and desert either. You want to stop immigration, simply enforce laws that restrict employers from hiring these “invaders”. Fat cat corporations are the ones hiring them. How fcuking hard is it for Border Patrol to drive to agricultural mega factories and round up the executives who gladly overlook work visa violations? Well that probably isn’t as fun as playing bounty hunter with taxpayer-funded baja trucks and guns, but it would be infinitely more effective.
Got any more labels to attempt to paste on others, tough guy?
Looks like another hateful leftist who doesn’t actually know what a socialist government actually looks like. Perhaps you should study what happened to Finland when they went to a socialist model. I find the hate particularly interesting, it’s like the racist democrats from the late 1800’s (the KKK was a distinctly democrat organization), but they’ve switched their racism for bigotry.
Sweden, not Finland. You can learn about it here..
G-Spank: It would appear you have no idea what socialism is either. You paint it like it’s an all-or-nothing thing. The poster above correctly pointed out that the USA has ALWAYS followed a mixed economic model, with collective funding for big projects that no for-profit enterprises can possibly pull off effectively. There is no such thing as full-on socialism, and there is no such thing as pure capitalism. No matter how the funding is pulled off, in my opinion, the key is to make sure that OVERSIGHT is maintained, accountable as directly as possible to the electorate. The USA has veered mightily toward corporatism, and individual freedom is now being trampled by unelected multinationals with zero accountability. You think that’s a better economic model? If you think that’s ideal, then go ahead and try to vote Timmy Cook out of office. Or use your shareholder rights to get him to invest more than a pittance in US manufacturing operations. How effective is that for you?
Since you’re paranoid about the S-word, here’s a handy guide of what else to be scared about:
I’m not paranoid (you create that to satisfy yourself). I know the USA is a mixed economy, doesn’t even make the top 10 in capitalist countries. I support a system that is a mixed economy (I’m consider it the tao of government). But hey what’s important is that you paint anyone who disagrees with you in the most negative light possible.