The S&P and Dow extended their win streaks to a third day while the Nasdaq, which saw its rally paused yesterday, also closed sharply higher despite a record-smashing jobless claims report. All signs point to the $2T stimulus bill passing the House after the measure was approved in the Senate, giving investors some reason to step back into stocks following the rout that has occurred since COVID-19 spread from China into Europe and North American.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In U.S. data, initial jobless claims surged by about 3M to 3.28M in the week ended March 21. While this is four times the prior record level seen in 1982, Wall Street knew the jobless claims would be historically bad and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said during an appearance on CNBC that the figures are "not relevant" for now. Fourth quarter GDP growth was left unrevised at 2.1% in the third release, matching the advance and second look reports. The advance indicators report revealed a February goods trade deficit drop to $59.9B that was $2.7B narrower than analysts expected.
Meanwhile, the latest data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering shows there are now 511,603 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 23,067 deaths due to the disease.
In New York, which has become the "epicenter" of the outbreak in the U.S., Governor Andrew Cuomo said 37,258 people have tested positive, which represents 6,447 new cases.
TOP NEWS: Shares of HP Inc. (HPQ) were 16.6% higher after the company issued a letter to shareholders last night, in which it said that it should "not divert valuable time, attention and resources to a dialogue with Xerox (XRX) about its proposed transaction" given current market circumstances.
Micron (MU) shares rose 5.4% after the memory chip maker reported better than expected second quarter results and provided guidance for the third quarter. Of note, the company said on its conference call that two of its employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Ford (F) was in focus after its credit rating was cut to junk status by S&P. The company also said this morning that it aims to restart production at key North American factories as soon as April 6. Meanwhile, Toyota (TM) announced it would further extend its production shutdown in North America through April 17, and Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) said that its plants across the U.S. and Canada will remain closed until April 14
Shares of Henry Schein (HSIC) gained 7% after the company announced the availability of an antibody rapid blood test, known as Standard Q COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Test, intended to be administered at the point of care. The test delivers results within 15 minutes from a pinprick with no instrumentation required, the company said.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that both Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citi (C) have suspended layoffs as the COVID-19 outbreak has led to a record level of unemployment claims and economic uncertainty.
Additionally, shares of certain mall and strip center REITS, including Retail Properties (RPAI), were under pressure after Eater reported last night that The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) informed landlords that it will not make upcoming rent payments for any of its restaurants on April 1 due to income losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Alaska Airlines (ALK), which rose 8.9% after announcing plans to reduce its flight schedule for April and May by approximately 70%. Also higher were Signet (SIG) and Canadian Solar (CSIQ), which gained a respective 29.9% and 12.8% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Beyond Meat (BYND), which slid 2.6% after Goldman Sachs analyst Adam Samuelson downgraded shares to Sell from Neutral, calling it one of the stocks that is most directly impacted by the coronavirus outbreak given over half of its sales are into the foodservice channel. Also lower was AMN Healthcare (AMN), which fell 10.8% after SunTrust analyst Tobey Summer downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 1,351.62, or 6.38%, to 22,552.17, the Nasdaq gained 413.24, or 5.6%, to 7,797.54, and the S&P 500 advanced 154.51, or 6.24%, to 2,630.07.
HP Inc.
+2.615 (+17.10%)
Xerox
+1.16 (+6.26%)
Micron
+2.59 (+6.14%)
Ford
-0.13 (-2.41%)
Toyota
+5.19 (+4.28%)
Ticker changed to STLA
+0.225 (+3.03%)
Henry Schein
+3.5 (+7.00%)
Morgan Stanley
+1.69 (+4.97%)
Citi
+4.5 (+10.78%)
Retail Properties of America
-0.075 (-1.41%)
Cheesecake Factory
+0.73 (+3.85%)
Alaska Air
+2.62 (+8.78%)
Signet Jewelers
+2.17 (+29.56%)
Canadian Solar
+1.87 (+12.04%)
Beyond Meat
-1.8 (-2.47%)
AMN Healthcare
-6.96 (-11.57%)