US markets end lower amid fast spread of COVID-19

02 Apr 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower with cut of around four and half percent on Wednesday, extending the pullback seen in the previous session, amid renewed coronavirus concerns after White House officials warned of nearly a quarter million deaths from the pandemic. White House officials are now projecting between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths in the US as a result of the outbreak, which Trump previously sought to downplay. The comments from the White House come as data from Johns Hopkins University shows there are more than 200,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US and more than 4,500 deaths. President Donald Trump warned the US is facing a very, very painful two weeks.

On the economic data front, payroll processor ADP released a report showing a modest decrease in private sector employment in the US in March, although the data does not reflect the full impact of the coronavirus-induced shutdown. ADP said private sector employment fell by 27,000 jobs in March after jumping by a downwardly revised 179,000 jobs in February. Street had expected private sector employment to plunge by 150,000 jobs compared to the addition of 183,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The drop was much smaller than expected but still reflects the first decrease in private sector employment since September of 2017. ADP also noted its national employment report, or NER, only utilizes data through the 12th of the month, which is the same period the Labor Department uses for its more closely watched monthly jobs report.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 973.65 points or 4.44 percent to 20,943.51, Nasdaq fell 339.52 points or 4.41 percent to 7,360.58 and S&P 500 was down by 114.09 points or 4.41 percent to 2,470.5.

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