US markets end lower as coronavirus worries ratchet higher

22 Feb 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Friday as traders continued to keep a close eye on the latest coronavirus report, with Chinese officials reporting 1,109 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, up sharply from 349 cases the previous day. The number of confirmed cases in Japan increased by 23 to 728. The full economic impact of the disease is unclear but early indications suggest that it is already denting China’s car sales. Chinese passenger car sales data for the first two weeks of February showed a year-over-year decline of 92%.  A number of companies have warned about the impact of the coronavirus, with Coca-Cola (KO) forecasting the outbreak will trim 1 to 2 cents per share off its first quarter earnings.

On the economic data front, existing home sales in the US pulled back in January after jumping in December, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), with existing home sales continuing a fluctuating pattern of monthly increases and declines. NAR said existing home sales slumped by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million in January after surging up by 3.9 percent to a revised rate of 5.53 million in December. Street had expected existing home sales to tumble by 1.8 percent. Despite the monthly decrease, the report noted existing home sales in January were up by 9.6 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 227.57 or 0.78 percent points to 28,992.41, Nasdaq dropped 174.38 points or 1.79 percent to 9,576.59 and S&P 500 was down by 35.48 points or 1.05 percent to 3,337.75. 

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