Stocks jumped to start the holiday-shortened week as this weekend's updates on the coronavirus pandemic were looked upon as generally positive. Data over the weekend was viewed as suggesting the apex is approaching, or may have already passed, in a number of critical places, such as New York City, Italy and Spain. Scott Gottlieb, the former FDA commissioner, was among those sharing some optimistic opinions, tweeting about "encouraging signs" he was seeing that the COVID-19 spread may be slowing in many cities, especially northeast. However, he also did call out the "southeast, New Orleans, sunbelt, southern California, Detroit, among others" that remain "areas of significant concern" in the U.S.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: There was no U.S. data of note reported.
Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said while being interviewed on CNBC that she believes U.S. GDP in the second quarter is likely to drop by at least 30% and the current unemployment rate is likely around 12%-13% and heading higher. In other Fed news, the Federal Reserve said that it will establish facility to facilitate lending to small businesses via the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program, PPP, by providing term financing backed by PPP loans.
Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state will extend its NY PAUSE initiative, keeping non-essential businesses closed until April 29. Cuomo added that there have been 130,689 total cases of COVID-19 in the state of New York .
The latest data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering shows there are now 1,324,907 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 73,703 deaths due to the disease.
In UK news, media reports, from BBC, Sky News and other sources indicated that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved to intensive care after his coronavirus symptoms worsened.
TOP NEWS: Airlines stocks were in focus as many U.S. air carriers said they are applying for federal assistance and adjusting their flight schedules and expectations for the near future amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, Delta (DAL) said in a regulatory filing that it expects its April flight schedule to be 80% below its original plans and guided revenue for Q2 to be down 90% from the same quarter of last year. Meanwhile, United Airlines (UAL) on Friday announced that it was cutting roughly 80% of its capacity for April and estimated a 30% year-over-year decline in fourth quarter revenue. In addition, JetBlue (JBLU) CEO Robin Hayes said Friday that the company was parking over 100 aircraft and cut its April schedule by 70%. In the midst of all these announcements, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) disclosed that it had sold 12.9M shares of Delta and 2.3M shares of Southwest (LUV) last week. Alaska Air (ALK) also said today that it expects to lower April and May capacity by 80%.
Boeing (BA) announced that it is extending the temporary suspension of production operations at all Puget Sound area and Moses Lake sites until further notice due to the coronavirus outbreak. In other planemaker news, Airbus (EADSY) announced today that it will pause production in Mobile, Alabama this week.
Zoom Video (ZM) shares fell 4.1% as reports on data privacy and security concerns surrounding the videoconferencing service continue to mount. CNBC reported Friday that Zoom said in an email that its waiting room feature will now be turned on by default, meaning that the meeting organizer will be able to control which participants can enter a videoconference. Following that change, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan told the Wall Street Journal that he "really messed up" on security. In addition, the Washington Post reported over the weekend that several school districts, including New York City, are banning the use of Zoom for online learning, with NYC directing teachers to use Microsoft Teams (MSFT) instead. This morning, Credit Suisse analyst Brad Zelnick downgraded Zoom Video to Underperform.
Meanwhile, Facebook (FB) announced that it is releasing new tools to help health researchers "track and combat" COVID-19. The new tools include new types of Disease Prevention Maps as well as a prompt on Facebook encouraging users in the U.S. to participate in a voluntary survey.
Tyson Foods (TSN) issued a statement saying its plants have experienced varying levels of production impact amid the coronavirus outbrea, adding that it has suspended operations at its Columbus Junction, Iowa pork plant due to more than two dozen cases of the virus involving team members at the facility.
MAJOR MOVERS: Shares of Immunomedics (IMMU) surged 99.8% higher after the company said its late-stage ASCENT study would be halted on positive data in breast cancer. Separately, the company announced that Harout Semerjian has been appointed as president and chief executive officer. Among the other noteworthy gainers was Wayfair (W), which jumped 41.2% after saying it expects to exceed its Q1 revenue growth guidance. In addition, Carnival Cruise (CCL) shares were 20.3% higher after the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia disclosed an 8.2% stake in the company.
Among the notable losers was Luckin Coffee (LK), which fell 18.4% after Goldman Sachs said that lenders are selling up to 76.35M shares in the Chinese coffee company. Also lower was Simply Good Foods (SMPL), which declined 8.7% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 1,627.46, or 7.73%, to 22,679.99, the Nasdaq gained 540.15, or 7.33%, to 7,913.24, and the S&P 500 advanced 175.03, or 7.03%, to 2,663.68.
Delta Air Lines
-0.33 (-1.47%)
United Airlines
+1.1 (+4.81%)
JetBlue
+0.25 (+3.35%)
Southwest
+0.17 (+0.56%)
Alaska Air
+1.99 (+8.07%)
Boeing
+23.99 (+19.26%)
Airbus
+ (+0.00%)
Zoom Video
-5.18 (-4.04%)
Microsoft
+11.35 (+7.37%)
Ticker changed to META
+11.23 (+7.28%)
Tyson Foods
+2.73 (+5.08%)
Acquired by GILD
+9.38 (+99.89%)
Wayfair
+20.86 (+41.17%)
Co-Diagnostics
+2.095 (+25.56%)
Carnival
+1.7 (+20.02%)
Use LKNCY
-0.98 (-18.28%)
Simply Good Foods
-1.58 (-8.45%)