Economic Fallout from Coronavirus Outpaced the Massive Response from Law Makers; Treasuries Notched Biggest Yield Jump Since 1982

US Markets Broader indices in the United States traded in red - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 150.07 points or 5.93% lower at 2,379.10, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index dipped by 1,389.36 points or 6.54% lower at 19,848.02, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded lower at 6,979.76, down by 355.02 points or 4.84% against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 11:20 AM ET).

US News: On 18^th March 2020, US Stocks opened in the red zone, with almost all major indices falling more than 2.5 per cent, leading to approximately US $11.5 trillion in Wall Street losses since the news of the epidemic first arose in the middle of January. Boeing Co. faced another major setback, as the stocks of the company declined by 16.1 per cent as the Airplane Manufacturer called for a US $60 billion bailout fund for a group of aerospace manufacturers who are in the midst of crisis owing to the travel ban all across the world. In terms of other equities, Mastercard stock declined by approximately 3 per cent, while BlackRock shares were also down significantly by 4 per cent, mainly due to the insufficiency in the investor confidence of the shareholders and traders on the Wall Street. All major banking stocks also displayed a significant decline, as Bank of America was down by 3 per cent, while JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs were both down by around 4 per cent while writing.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*: Kroger Co, Conagra Brands Inc and Walmart Inc are top gainers and increased by 7.70%, 6.64% and 5.87% respectively.

Worst Performers*:Â Mariott International Inc, ONEOK Inc and United Rentals Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 22.21%, 22.06% and 20.79% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers*:Â Biomerica Inc, ShiftPixy Inc, and Centogene NV are top gainers and increased by 175.64%, 66.04% and 49.50% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Penn National Gaming Inc, Golar LNG Partners LP and New York Mortgage Trust Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 32.54%, 31.46% and 30.25% respectively.

Sectors in negative zone*:Â Energy (Down 7.77%), Industrials (Down 5.49%), and Basic Materials (Down 4.88%).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers*:Â Walmart Inc, Walgreens Boots Allliance Inc and Dow Inc are top gainers, increased by 6.19%, 5.67% and 3.01% per cent respectively.

Worst Performers*:Â Boeing Co, United Technologies Corp and American Express Co are top laggards and decreased by 15.45%, 12.53% and 11.42% respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 214.32 points or 4.05% lower at 5,080.58, the FTSE 250 index snapped at 916.69 points or 6.58% lower at 13,008.19, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 129.97 points or 4.49% lower at 2,764.48 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended down by 11.41 points or 3.92 per cent at 279.66.

European News: On macro front, pound plummeted unlike several decades by 2.07%, as investors relying on dollar relatively, due to Coronavirus pandemic state. On the other hand, FTSE index plunged today, despite the rescue package announcement by Chancellor Rishi Sunak for GBP 330 billion for assisting struggling businesses. FTSE is the biggest laggard today, as compared to Paris, Frankfurt and Milan. In Europe, automobile sector is confronting the heat beside travel industry due to production slowdown. While, the Britain’s transport minister Grant Shapps is connecting to major airports and airlines in order to safeguard bankruptcies led by Covid-19 outbreak. As per health ministry, coronavirus patients have risen to 2,626 in UK, reflecting 35% increase since yesterday. The London Metal Exchange is shifting to ring trading instead of disaster recovery site and have plans to convert all the business to electronic system on Monday. Among the stocks, few gainers were - supermarket chains, with Sainsbury (SBRY.L) and WM Morrison Supermarket (MRW.L) gaining more than 10%, respectively amid panic buying by shoppers. Superdry PLC dipped by 34% due to weak sales led by Covid-19 spread; Restaurant Group PLC plunged by 5%, since like-for-like sales were up 4.5%; Egdon Resources Plc gained by 6%, with robust development at current oil price.

London Stock Exchange

Top Performers*: CINEWORLD GROUP PLC (CINE), HOLLYWOOD BOWL GROUP PLC (BOWL) and MARSTON'S PLC (MARS) are top movers and rose by 68.99%, 36.34% and 35.23% respectively.

Worst Performers*: NATIONAL EXPRESS GROUP PLC (NEX), SUPERDRY PLC (SDRY) and SQN ASSET FINANCE INCOME FUND LTD (SQN) plunged by 39.18%, 35.88% and 32.25% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index

5 days FTSE 100 Index Performance (March-18-2020), before the market closed (Source: TR)

Best Gainers*: SAINSBURY(J) PLC (SBRY), MORRISON(WM.)SUPERMARKETS PLC (MRW) and IMPERIAL BRANDS PLC (IMB) expanded by 12.03%, 10.95% and 4.80% respectively.

Top Slackers*: ASHTEAD GROUP PLC (AHT), MEGGITT PLC (MGGT) and CARNIVAL PLC (CCL) plunged by 21.62%, 20.74% and 19.82% respectively.

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

Top Sectors traded in the positive zone*: Telecommunications Services (up 1.67%) and Consumer Non-Cyclicals (up 1.48%).

Top Sectors traded in the negative zone*: Energy (down 7.69%), Industrials (down 5.46%), and Basic Materials (down 5.35%).

Currency Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were trading at 1.1583 and 0.9415, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was hovering at 1.208%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.868%, respectively.

*At the time of writing