The market rout has deepened today as fears about the coronavirus continue to sink stocks worldwide. The latest concern comes from Africa, which just reported its first case of the disease. The drop in the Dow is still about 2.5% lower, but that is well off its worst levels of the morning, when the blue chip index was down more than 1,000 points.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., personal income climbed 0.6% in January, with spending rising 0.2%. The advance indicators report revealed the trade deficit narrowed to $65.5B in January as exports fell 1.0% to $135.7B and imports dropped 2.2% to $201.2B. The Chicago PMI climbed to 49.0 in February, which was much better than expected. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey reading was revised up to 101.0 in the final February print, versus 100.9 in the preliminary reading and up from January's 99.8 figure.
In central bank news, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said the coronavirus may temporarily slow global economic growth, but that the Federal Open Market Committee is in a good position because of previous policy rate cuts. Further policy rate cuts are a possibility if a global pandemic actually develops, but "this is not the baseline case at this time," said Bullard.
TOP NEWS: HP Inc. (HPQ), as it continues to push back on efforts from Xerox (XRX) to combine the companies, disclosed that in August of 2019, Carl Icahn, the largest shareholder of Xerox, phoned Dion Weisler, HP's then-chief executive officer, to express his belief that there was considerable value in combining Xerox and HP. Icahn told Weisler that HP should consider buying Xerox or, if not, that Icahn himself would consider making an offer to acquire HP and that he wanted a transaction to occur quickly, the company announced.
Dell Technologies (DELL) reported fourth quarter earnings that missed expectations and revenue that matched the consensus forecast, as CFO Tom Sweet touted the company's fiscal year results as a testiment to the company's "ability to adjust to win in any environment." Dell shares are down 5% at midday, outpacing the broader market's losses.
In other earnings news, Mylan (MYL) shares have slid 8%, making it one of the worst performers on the S&P, after the drugmaker announced its fourth quarter results and issued FY20 guidance last night.
For much of the morning, 3M (MMM) was the only Dow member trading in positive territory, potentially due to its status as a safe haven play and because of its role as a supplier of medical masks. However, it has turned lower near midday while Microsoft (MSFT) has taken its place as the sole member of the blue chip index trading in positive ground.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers were Sangamo (SGMO) and Farfetch (FTCH), which gained a respective 34% and 18% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Wayfair (W), which slid 13% after reporting quarterly results and providing downbeat guidance for Q1. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Glaukos (GKOS) and Beyond Meat (BYND), which fell 31% and 16%, respectively,
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 688.01, or 2.67%, to 25,078.63 , the Nasdaq was down 112.94, or 1.32%, to 8,453.54 , and the S&P 500 was down 61.70, or 2.07%, to 2,917.06.
