US Federal Reserve slashes interest rates to near zero to cushion coronavirus pandemic outbreak

US Markets: Broader indices in the United States traded in red - particularly, the S&P 500 index traded 257.84 points or 9.51% lower at 2,453.18, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index plunged by 2,424.65 points or 10.46% lower at 20,760.97, and the technology benchmark index Nasdaq Composite traded lower at 7,110.44, down by 764.43 points or 9.71% against its previous day close (at the time of writing, before the U.S market close at 3:30 PM ET).

US News: On 16^th March 2020, the US Federal Reserve reduced benchmark interest rate to around zero and closing of schools, colleges, theatres and Bars, due to the outbreak of coronavirus. US stock markets were also suspended immediately after trading started on Monday morning. The emergency measures taken by the Federal Reserve on Sunday Night didn’t reassured the Investors. The shares of United Airlines declined by 15 per cent, as the company lowered its capacity by 50 per cent. As the Trump administration puts restrictions on the arrivals form the European region, the stocks of American Airlines and Delta Air lines witnessed a sharp decline. Apple Inc announced the closing of its stores outside China and an antitrust fine of USD 1.2 billion imposed by the French government, the shares fell by 13 per cent. As the crude prices fell under USD 30/ barrel and US gasoline prices also plunged to 69 cents/gallon, the oil and gas stocks also witnessed a decline. The US based cinema chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc, didn’t opted for mass closure and is updating the coronavirus-response plan, witnessed a decline of 13.66 per cent. Levi Strauss & Co. announced the closure of stores in the US and Canadian region till March 27, its shares fell by 5.13 per cent. The shares of Nike Inc and Lululemon Athletica Inc declined by 12.14 per cent and 15.93 per cent, respectively, after announcing store closures due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

S&P 500 (SPX)

Top Performers*: Norwegian Cruise Line Holding Ltd, HollyFrontier Corp and Cabot Oil & gas Corp are top gainers and increased by 13.87%, 8.61% and 7.84% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Capri Holdings Ltd, Gap Inc and L Brands Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 22.90%, 22.39% and 21.15% respectively.

NASDAQ Composite (IXIC)

Top Performers*: OpGen Inc, Newgioco Group Inc, and Liberty Tripadvisor Holdings Inc are top gainers and increased by 155.72, 108.33% and 40.55% respectively.

Worst Performers*: Gulfport Energy Corp, Kratos Defense and Security solutions, and Oasis Petroleum Inc are the top three laggards and decreased by 67.44%, 58.17% and 51.23% respectively.

Sectors in negative zone*: Energy (Down 9.28%), Industrial (Down 9.17%) and Financials (Down 8.55%).

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Top Performers*: Caterpillar Inc is top gainer and increased by 0.40%.

Worst Performers*: Boeing Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Travelers Companies Inc are top laggards and decreased by 17.63%, 12.57% and 12.08% respectively.

European Markets: The London’s broader equity benchmark index FTSE 100 traded at 215.03 points or 4.01% lower at 5,151.08, the FTSE 250 index snapped at 1,212.25 points or 7.79% lower at 14,349.75, and the FTSE All-Share Index ended 145.53 points or 4.86% lower at 2,848.87 respectively. Another European equity benchmark index STOXX 600 ended, down by 14.53 points or 4.86 per cent, at 284.63.

European News: Major British Airline group companies British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Norwegian and Ryanair were in discussion with British Government to assist and offer some rescue package to cushion against coronavirus outbreak. The move comes after the United States on Sunday put restrictions on British citizens coming into its territories because of the pandemic scare. Last week United States had put similar restrictions on several European countries except for the United Kingdom, however, due to the sudden spike in the number of infected cases being reported the country, the United States extended the ban to the United Kingdom.

London Stock Exchange

Top Performers*: INTU PROPERTIES PLC (INTU), PENDRAGON PLC (PDG) and EVRAZ PLC (EVR) are top gainers and increased by 20.95%, 8.20% and 7.21% respectively.

Worst Performers*: FIRSTGROUP PLC (FGP), MARSTON'S PLC (MARS) and CAPITAL & REGIONAL PLC (CAL) plunged by 47.50%, 47.35% and 46.27% respectively.

FTSE 100 Index

5 days FTSE 100 Index Performance (March-16-2020), before the market closed (Source: TR)

Top Gainers*: EVRAZ PLC (EVR), SAINSBURY(J) PLC (SBRY) and SAGE GROUP PLC (SGE) traded in the green zone and leapt up by 7.08%, 2.93% and 2.10% respectively.

Top Slackers*: M&G PLC (MNG), INTL CONSOLIDATED AIRLINES GROUP SA (IAG) and EASYJET PLC (EZJ) were among the beaten-down stocks and plunged by 26.95%, 26.35% and 20.44% respectively.

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

Sectors in the negative zone*: Consumer Cyclicals (down 8.12%), Financials (down 5.89%), and Industrials (down 5.77%).

Currency Rates*: GBP/USD and EUR/GBP were trading at 1.2265 and 0.9105, respectively.

Bond Yields*: U.S 10-Year Treasuries yield was hovering at 0.720%, and the UK 10-Year Government Bond yield was trading at 0.421%, respectively.

*At the time of writing