Monday, February 10, 2020

Markets edge higher while investors monitor coronavirus

Dow rose 114, advancers modestly ahead of  decliners & NAZ gained 53.  The MLP index fell 2+ to the 198s & the REIT index added 2+ to 420 (in record territory).  Junk bond funds fluctuated & Treasuries were purchased.  Oil slid below 50 & gold went up 3 to 1577 (more below).

AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)

stock chart

CL=FCrude Oil49.88
 -0.44 -0.9%

GC=FGold   1,577.00
+3.60+0.2%






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Equity markets opened slightly lower as traders digested the details of Pres Trump's budget & as the coronavirus continued to spread.  The early selling continued the weakness that occurred following Fri's blowout jobs report, which pushed the major averages off their record highs.  Trump’s $4.8T fiscal 2021 budget, which will officially be released shortly, runs a $1T deficit, but would lead to a balanced budget in 15 years so long as the economy remains healthy, a senior administration official said.  Meanwhile, the coronavirus death toll has risen to at least 910 & more than 40K have been infected globally.  West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down a tad, near $50.30 a barrel, & gold was up a smidgen at $1575 an ounce.  Treasuries were little changed with the yield on the 10-year note holding near 1.575%.  In Europe, France's CAC fell 0.4% while Germany's DAX & Britain's FTSE were down 0.3% & 0.2%, respectively.  Asian markets finished mixed with China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.5%  while both Hong Kong's Hang Seng & Japan's Nikkei fell 0.6%.

Stocks slip as coronavirus worries fester, deadly outbreak worsens


It's too early to know what kind of impact the coronavirus outbreak will have on the US economy, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said.  The outbreak, which has killed at least 910 & sickened 40K globally, has US companies to halt or drastically reduce operations in China & led to the grounding of flights between the 2 countries.  “I think we are going to have to wait another couple of weeks or a month to see just what exactly is going on,” Navarro added.  “There’s also companies that are going back to work in China as we speak. We won’t know for a couple of weeks now whether the virus is going to peak or whether it’s going to spread.”  While the White House is taking a wait-&-see approach on assessing the impact the coronavirus will have on the US economy, it has already warned that the additional $200B of purchases that China agreed to as part of the phase one trade deal will be delayed.  “The export boom from that trade deal will take longer because of the Chinese virus,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said last Tues, adding that any impact on the US economy will be “minimal.”  But since then, the Federal Reserve & a number of banks have warned the outbreak will weigh on US economic growth.  The Federal Reserve said Fri it was on the lookout for "possible spillovers from the effects of the coronavirus."

White House trade adviser on how deadly virus may impact US economy


China's finance ministry said yesterday all levels of gov had allocated a total of 71.85B yuan (over $10B) as of Sat to fight coronavirus.  The ministry will deploy the funds to ensure that members of public can afford diagnosis & treatment, it said.  The funds will also be used to ensure that efforts of every region to fight the virus are not hampered by financial constraints, it added.

China allocates $10B for coronavirus fight


Gold futures headed modestly higher as investors fretted about the economic impact on China of the fast-moving outbreak of the coronavirus.  The death toll for the novel strain of coronavirus climbed to more than 900 on mainland China, exceeding that of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, that claimed 774 lives & infected about 8K in 2002-03.  The World Health Organization warned that the spread could accelerate, with more than 40K cases reported so far.  The precious metal is still viewed by some commodity experts as a go-to asset in the face of nagging concerns about the infectious disease.  Gold for Apr delivery was up $4.70 (0.3%), at $1578 an ounce, on track for a 4th consecutive gain after bullion on Fri showed a 0.9% decline for the week based on the most-active contract.

Gold on track for a fourth straight gain, buoyed by coronavirus outbreak

The Dow started the trading the day near breakeven, followed by buyers bidding it up about 100.  Coronavirus is getting most of traders' attention.  Initial reports sound good (whatever) but the future of this virus is highly uncertain.  At least the bulls are optimistic with the Dow slightly under its recent record.

Dow Jones Industrials









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