Stock market news live: Markets tumble despite strong jobs report as coronavirus concerns persist – Yahoo Finance

Stock News

Posted on March 6, 2020

The three major indices pointed to a second straight day of steep declines, as volatility continued to rattle risk assets.

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9:32 a.m. ET: Stocks open lower even after blowout jobs report

Overnight losses carried into regular trading, with each of the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq opening sharply lower Friday morning.

Here were the main moves in markets as of 9:32 a.m. ET:

S&P 500 (^GSPC): 3,908.00, down -107.5 points or -3.56%
Dow (^DJI): 25,217.00, down -843.00 or -3.23%
Nasdaq (^IXIC): 8,325.00, down -323.75 or -3.74%
Crude oil (CL=F): $44.21, down 1.69 or -3.68%
Gold (GC=F): $1,685.20, up $17.20 or +1.03%
10-year Treasury (^TNX): yielding 0.704%, down 22.1 basis points

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9:11 a.m. ET: ‘This could be the last perfect employment report the market gets for some time,’ economist says

As many economists have been quick to point out, the February jobs report was obsolete since even before its release, as it captured the period before the coronavirus outbreak escalated and became a meaningful threat to economic activity.

“This could be the last perfect employment report the market gets for some time,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist for MUFG Union Bank, wrote in a note Friday. “Net, net, the employment report was nearly perfect in February before the growing economic storm posed by the spreading coronavirus around the country that threatens many industries where the public gathers from movies, to travel, to the airline industry, even shops and malls.”

“The Federal Reserve cut rates this week because of a material change in the outlook as posed by the spread of the virus,” Rupkey added. “Although there is nothing in the February employment report to suggest a slowdown in the economy, the market continues to bet big on another interest rate cut from Fed officials later this month.”

At the same time, the strong employment report means the U.S. economy was in a better position to handle the coronavirus outbreak than it would have been in absence of such momentum at the start of the year, other pundits pointed out.

“It is a good thing, not a bad thing that the US economy ran into the coronavirus on a strong footing,” Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research, said in an email Friday. “Yes, this was stale. But the economy is dealing with this from a position of strength.”

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8:49 a.m. ET: Markets continue to trade lower, yields tumble

The better-than-expected U.S. jobs reported didn’t really move the needle on markets.

S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 2,934.25, down 81.25 points or -2.69%
Dow futures (YM=F): 25,412.00, down 648 points or -2.49%
Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 8,389.25, down 259.50 points or -3.00%
Crude oil (CL=F): $44.03 per barrel, down $1.87 or 4.07%
Gold (GC=F): $1,674.80 per ounce, up $6.80 or 0.41%
10-year Treasury (^TNX): yielding 0.751%, down 18.9 bps

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8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. jobs report smashes expectations.

U.S. employers added 273,000 payrolls in February, beating economists’ expectations for 175,000. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5% from 3.6% the month prior.

Average hourly earnings climbed by 0.3% month-over-month, or 3.0% year-over-year, which was in line with expectations.

Note: the measurement period for this report predates the period during which coronavirus fears spiked globally.

7:49 a.m. ET: Stock futures sink, following global equities lower

U.S. stocks were on track for another down day, with futures for each of the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq off more than 2% in early trading.

In the U.S., the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 broke above 200, with the White House acknowledging Thursday that the nation lacks an adequate amount of coronavirus test kits to meet demand. Globally, the number of cases of the coronavirus is nearing 100,000, with more than 3,200 deaths reported.

The escalating outbreak has dented stocks and sent Treasury yields spiraling lower. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note broke below 0.75% Friday morning as traders piled into safe haven assets like government bonds.

The impending release of Department of Labor’s February jobs report has done little to prop up equities, even as consensus economists expect another strong print on payroll gains and an unemployment rate near a 50-year low. The release, however, will capture the state of the labor market before the escalation of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., rendering the report already stale.

Here were the main moves during the pre-market session, as of 7:49 a.m. ET: