Global Equities Languishes in Red as Rising Infections due to Coronavirus Trigger Further Lockdowns

US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded in red - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 107.59 points or 4.16% lower at 2,477.00, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index plunged by 858.91 points or 3.92% lower at 21,058.25, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded lower at 7,413.96, down by 286.14 points or 3.72% against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 1:30 PM ET).

US News: The Wall Street plummeted on Wednesday as President expecting a rise in deaths (100,000 to 240,000 deaths) in the coming weeks due to virus outbreak across states while the US manufacturing sector, represented by PMI, dipped to 49.1%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reckoned that the World has entered recession since global coronavirus patients surpassed 870,000 cases while IMF expects a recovery in 2021, provided the world can contain the fatal virus. In the meantime, U.S. employers slashed payrolls by 270,000 in March, and it is likely to worsen, based on 3.3 million unemployment claims addressed up to 21 March 2020. Adjacently, U.S. mortgage rates plummeted to a record low (in the week ending 27 March 2020) to 3.47%, post the lending rate cut by Federal Reserve. On other hand, Global oil spending has fallen to USD 211 billion (lowest since 2005), representing 21% from 2019, primarily impacted by nosedived oil and gas demand. The Global oil market is witnessing slump, despite efforts from President Donald Trump to resolve price war. Subsequently, the oil major Whiting Petroleum filed for bankruptcy and their share steeply plummeted by around 39%. Contrarily, Kroger’s soared around 4% with an announcement of like-for-like sales surged 30% in March since consumers accumulating grocery stocks; however, the Kroger anticipates the sales to be volatile during 2020 In comparison, Verizon has been benefitted since consumers are exceedingly using mobile devices during social distancing conditions, and their stock was merely down by about 0.97%. Macy’s share dropped around 3.77% after being dumped from the S&P 500, following the 70% decline in value since the start of the year. The merger between T-Mobile and Sprint has been completed and bolstered its position as the third-largest wireless provider; T-Mobile’s share slightly rose to around 3%.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*: Kroger Co, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc, and Dollar General Corp shares increased by 5.35%, 3.46% and 3.40% respectively.

Non Performers*: Capri Holdings Ltd, Carnival Corp and Tapestry Inc shares decreased by 13.90%, 13.29% and 12.43% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers*: MicroVision Inc, Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc, and Safe-T Group Ltd shares expanded by 146.14%, 103.13% and 65.85% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Vivus Inc, Akorn Inc and SG Blocks Inc shares plunged by 56.94%, 46.54% and 34.62% respectively.

Top Performing Sector*: Telecommunications Services (+0.29%).

Top Worst Sectors*: Financials (-4.33%), Utilities (-4.12%), and Energy (-4.01%).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers*: Procter & Gamble Co, Walmart Inc and Intel Corp, are the top gainer and Increased by 1.06%, 0.91% and 0.70%, respectively.

Worst Performers*: American Express Co, Boeing Co, and United Technologies Corp are top laggards and decreased by 6.10%, 5.63% and 5.40% respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 217.39 points or 3.83% lower at 5,454.57, the FTSE 250 index snapped at 553.93 points or 3.67% lower at 14,547.20, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 116.30 points or 3.74% lower at 2,991.12 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended down by 9.29 points or 2.90 per cent, at 310.77. Among other major European indices, DAX index closed the session at 9,544.75, down by 391.09 points or 3.94%; CAC 40 index plunged significantly by 188.87 points or 4.30% and ended the trading session at 4,207.24.

European News: London and European stocks tumbled with shrinking manufacturing activities and diminishing Purchasing Managers’ Index in Britain. Especially, Italy confronted the deepest plunge to 11-year low at 40.3 in March (February: 48.7). Furthermore, pursuant to the guidance of Bank of England regarding suspension of dividends to conserve liquidity amid the Covid-19 outbreak, the stock price of many companies steeply fell including - Auto Trader PLC plunged around 8.95%, Lloyd Banking dropped about 5.85%, HSBC fell around 7.86%, and similarly, RBS lost over 5.00%. Also, the share of Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered plummeted between 5% to 10%. Likewise, BP PLC fell 3.7%, post Moody’s slashed its outlook to “negative” and the announcement of their 25% Capex cut. While analyst estimate European could lose half of their profitability and dividend payout during this economic contraction phase. On the other hand, Unemployment has declined to a 12-year low at 7.3%, in the Eurozone in February, when containment pertinent to coronavirus didn’t even initiate. During this challenging scenario, the Financial Conduct Authority has eased the mandates regarding loans and guarantees and allowing convenient method of assuring the customer’s identity through a selfie. Meanwhile, Eurozone is also pondering over support package to rescue the economy, expected to arrive by early next week.

London Stock Exchange

Top Performers*: PPHE HOTEL GROUP (PPH), SUPERDRY PLC (SDRY) and ROBERT WALTERS PLC (RWA) are top movers and rose by 9.23%, 7.18% and 6.83% respectively.

Worst Performers*: ASTON MARTIN LAGONDA GLOBAL HOLDING (AML), INTERNATIONAL PERSONAL FINANCE PLC (IPF) and CINEWORLD GROUP PLC (CINE) plunged by 47.05%, 21.92% and 16.02% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index

5 days FTSE 100 Index Performance (April-01-2020), before the market closed (Source: TR)

Best Gainers*: OCADO GROUP PLC (OCDO), BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO PLC (BATS) and IMPERIAL BRANDS PLC (IMB) expanded by 5.62%, 3.73% and 2.65% respectively.

Non Performers*: CARNIVAL PLC (CCL), MEGGITT PLC (MGGT) and ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC (RR.) plunged by 15.22%, 12.68% and 10.16% respectively.

Shares traded with high-level volume*: (LLOY) LLOYDS BANKING GROUP PLC; (BARC) BARCLAYS PLC, and (BP.) BP PLC.

Top Sector traded in the positive zone*: Energy (+0.94%).

Top Sectors traded in the negative zone*: Financials (-6.90%), Consumer Cyclicals (-6.19%) and Industrials (-4.44%).

Forex Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were hovering at 1.2386 and 0.8815, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was tilting at 0.632%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was hovering at 0.321%, respectively.

*At the time of writing

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