Thursday’s Stock Market Open: US Equities Plunge On Fears Of New Covid-19 Outbreak, Another 1.54M File Jobless Claims

Update: 1:35 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks are accelerating their losses in mid-afternoon trade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,410.01 points to 25,579.98, while the S&P 500 fell 139.86 points to 3,050.28 and the Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 362.3 points to 9,658.04.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down 8.61% to $36.19 per barrel.

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks continued to plunge as of noon Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,182.27 points to 25,808.72, while the S&P 500 fell 116.07 points to 3,074.07 and the Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 275.46 points to 9,744.89.

In Europe markets closed sharply lower, as Britain’s FTSE-100 dropped 3.99%, while France’s CAC-40 tumbled 4.71% and Germany’s DAX fell 4.47%.

Crude oil futures plunged 8.21% at $36.35 per barrel, Brent crude fell 2.93% at $38.80.

Update: 10:45 a.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks continued to slide as of mid-morning trading, although Nasdaq partially recovered from earlier losses.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 929.86 points to 26,060.13, while the S&P 500 fell 88.16 points to 3,101.98 and the Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 175.12 points to 9,845.22.

Original story:

U.S. stocks plunged on Thursday over fears about a spike in coronavirus cases in some states which are reopening up their economies after long lockdowns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 898.59 points to 26,091.40, while the S&P 500 fell 88.15 points to 3,101.99 and the Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 228.67 points to 9,791.68.

The U.S. Labor Department said 1.54 million Americans filed for initial unemployment claims last week, fewer than expected, and a decline from the prior week.

Jo Ling Kent of NBC News tweeted: “Good news is that it's the 10th straight week of declines, but this new big number also puts us at about 42 million jobless claims filed since mid-March.”

Some counties in Texas, California, Arizona and Florida have reported an increase new coronavirus cases or hospitalizations, raising fears that the pandemic is far from over. On the whole, more than 2 million Americans have been infected by the virus.

“There is a new wave coming in parts of the country,” said Eric Toner of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “It’s small and it’s distant so far, but it’s coming.”

Traders are also assessing the grim outlook on the economy issued by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

“The Fed understands we are just in the beginning phases of the economic recovery and making rash changes to policy or forward guidance is premature at this time,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management.

Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and chief strategist of Quill Intelligence, and a former Fed advisor, commented: “While [the] Fed was successful in helping the stock market recover from the coronavirus-driven selloff in March, the jury is out on how much the Fed is helping the economy recover. The Fed has a problem of its own making. Most market participants are convinced that interest rates will be lower for as far as the eye can see. The market is currently pricing in no rate hikes for at least three years, which is less than the seven-year duration of near-zero interest rates that took place after the last crisis in 2008.”

Overnight in Asia, markets finished lower. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.78%; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 2.27%; while Japan’s Nikkei-225 plunged 2.82%.

In Europe markets traded sharply lower, as Britain’s FTSE-100 dropped 3.02%, while France’s CAC-40 tumbled 3.36% and Germany’s DAX fell 3.24%.

Crude oil futures plunged 7.1% at $36.79 per barrel, Brent crude fell 2.45% at $39.28. Gold futures gained 1.31%.

The euro edged down 0.12% at $1.1364 while the pound sterling slipped 0.78% at $1.2647.