Stocks fell for a seventh straight session and suffered their largest weekly drop since the financial crisis but ended Friday above their lows after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell issued a statement.
Conway G.
Gittens reports.
Wall St. sees biggest weekly slump since 2008 crisis
There was little relief to a brutal week on Wall Street as a stock slide extended for the seventh straight session - leading to the biggest weekly drop for stocks since the financial crisis.
The Dow finished Friday lower by 357 points.
The S&P 500 lost 24 points.
But the Nasdaq finished up by less than a point.
The sell-off was much deeper earlier in the session but a statement from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell helped stocks finish off the lows.
He said the U.S. economy remains strong, but the Fed is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to "act as appropriate" to provide support.
Andy Kapyrin is co-head of investments at RegentAtlantic and he says that statement puts the market on notice to expect a quarter point rate cut at the Fed's March meeting, even if, in his view, the cut will likely do little to address the problem.
SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ANDY KAPYRIN, CO-HEAD OF INVESTMENTS, REGENTATLANTIC, SAYING: "Intervening in between meetings - it would be a highly extraordinary event for the Fed - they seldom do this.
I think waiting for the next meeting though, they are all but saying that there will be a cut.
This will be effective in limiting financial contagion.
It may not be fully effective at limiting the economic impact of the coronavirus because this is not a monetary phenomenon.
This is strictly happening in the real economy for goods." But Wall Street is still afraid the coronavirus outbreak could turn into a pandemic, strangling corporate profits and global economic growth in its wake.
The World Health Organization raised its global risk assessment on the coronavirus to "very high" from "high" as the outbreak spread to Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.
That pushed stocks deeper into the fastest correction ever - with the S&P 500 now down roughly 13 percent from its recent record closing high.
The run to the perceived safety of government bonds continued.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to a historic low for day number four.
Amazon was the latest company to shake-up business practices in wake of the outbreak.
It restricted all employees from non-essential travel inside, as well as, outside of the United States.
That certainly will be felt by the airlines in terms of revenues.
American Airlines is the biggest loser so far on the stock market- having lost a third of its value year-to-date.