Wall Street had its biggest one-day drop since October, capping off the worst January in four years as coronavirus fears, economic jitters and disappointing earnings fueled investor anxiety.
Conway G.
Gittens has the market action.
Virus fears, weak data spark 600-pt Dow plunge
A toxic potion of troublesome factory data, disappointing earnings, coronavirus fears and the bond market once again flashing a recession warning signal combined to give Wall Street its biggest one-day tumble since October.
The Dow dropped 603 points or two percent.
The S&P 500 gave up 58 points and the Nasdaq tumbled 147 points.
January was the worst stock market start to a new year since 2016.
But Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, sees this as a buying opportunity especially for tech stocks.
SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): DAN IVES, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF EQUITY RESEARCH, WEDBUSH SECURITIES, SAYING: "Any time these macro 'world is ending' type of events - it's an opportunity to own this FAANG names, own tech because in my opinion it is a contained issue.
And even if it sort of goes into March and maybe moves some of the units from March to June, it is a timing issue.
So, to me right now you're a buyer of tech names and I think these macro events they create the opportunities to own tech names cheaper." But for others there were reasons to sell... Manufacturing activity in the midwest unexpectedly shrank further in January, according to the Chicago Purchasing Management index released Friday.
The report suggests business sentiment has not improved since the U.S. reached a phase one trade deal with China.
And a report showing a tepid gain in consume income for December fueled concerns the economy is on course for a slower year, especially with business investment remaining weak.
Corporate earnings added to the gloom.
Credit card processor Visa posted disappointing results and warned future revenue would be limited by incentives it needs to provide to banking clients.
ExxonMobil's full-year profit came in well short of its projections due to weakness in chemicals and refining.... And Chevron swung to a $7 billion fourth-quarter loss due to weaker oil and gas prices.