NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks fell early today following a disappointing US jobs report and the bombshell news that President Donald Trump has tested positive for the coronavirus.
About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7% at 27,625.35.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1% to 3,348.65, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.4% to 11,174.07.
US stock futures plunged on the Trump announcement this morning, but traded in a range around that lower level for several hours and did not move significantly after the jobs data was released at 1230 GMT (8.30pm Malaysian time).
Analysts on CNBC said there is a wide range of possible outcomes for an individual with Covid-19, from very serious afflictions and even death, to an asymptomatic outcome.
There was also speculation that the news could improve the odds of a fiscal stimulus, potentially boosting stocks.
“The knee-jerk sell-off makes sense,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, adding that it is unknowable how the president’s diagnosis will affect the November election, ongoing negotiations on a fiscal stimulus, and a pending Supreme Court nomination.
O’Hare said the fact that the market stabilised after the initial fall shows it is not “catastrophising” the possible outcomes.
In terms of the jobs data, the US added a less-than-expected 661,000 jobs last month, but the unemployment rate fell to 7.9%, said the Labour Department.
The positions gained last month were less than half of the upwardly revised 1.5 million positions added in August, indicating a slowdown in the pace of the employment recovery after business shutdowns beginning in March to stop Covid-19 caused mass layoffs. – AFP, October 2, 2020
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