Spikes in COVID-19 cases in several states, including Florida and Texas, have pushed the Dow and S&P down for the first time in three days and sent the Nasdaq lower for the first time in nine days. In addition to the troubling virus news in a number of U.S. states, the IMF is also contributing to the selloff with its sobering forecast for a decline in global economic growth. News that the U.S. is considering $3.1B in fresh tariffs on EU and UK products has added to the market's sour mood.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In U.S. data, the FHFA house price index rose 0.2% to 288.3 in April, which was a new record high.
The International Monetary Fund has cutits s global growth forecast and warned that the rebound in global financial markets "appears disconnected from shifts in underlying economic prospects". The fund now expects global GDP to shrink 4.9% this year, which is down from a 3.0% contraction forecast made in April. For next year, the IMF sees a rebound of 5.4%, which is also lower than the 5.8% projected two months ago.
The latest data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering shows there are now about 9.3M confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including 2.35M in the U.S., and 478,289 deaths due to the disease.
In other COVID-19 news, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, along with Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut, announced a joint order that all individuals traveling from states with significant community spread of COVID-19 into any of the three states must quarantine for 14 days.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Dell Technologies (DELL) are 6% higher near noon after The Wall Street Journal reported that Dell is considering potential options for its roughly 81% stake in VMware (VMW). The options could include a spinoff, purchase of the remaining stake or leaving the stake unchanged, The Journal's Cara Lombardo reported, citing people familiar with discussions. VMware shares are 2% higher following the report.
The Justice Department and a coalition of state attorneys general are taking the first steps toward launching an antitrust probe of Apple, Leah Nylen of Politico reported, citing three people involved in the discussions. The Justice Department and attorneys general have spoken to several companies unhappy with Apple's control of its App Store, particularly for apps that compete with Apple's own products, sources told Politico.
Shares of Disney (DIS) are down nearly 5% at midday following a CNN report that more than 7,000 people are urging the company and government officials to reconsider opening Disney World next month as coronavirus cases surge in Florida.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Plug Power (PLUG), which rose 16% after analysts at H.C. Wainwright, Roth Capital, and B. Riley FBR raised their price targets on the stock. Also higher was iBio (IBIO), which gained 8% after it was selected by IBM Watson Health (IBM) to support its clinical COVID-19 vaccine program.
Among the notable losers was La-Z-Boy (LZB), which fell 4% after reporting quarterly results. Also lower were shares of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) and Royal Caribbean (RCL), which were each downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight by Barclays analyst Felicia Hendrix this morning.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 813.99, or 3.11%, to 25,342.11, the Nasdaq was down 268.25, or 2.65%, to 9,863.12, and the S&P 500 was down 92.98, or 2.97%, to 3,038.31.
Dell Technologies
+2.835 (+5.78%)
Acquired by AVGO
+3.485 (+2.33%)
Apple
-6.62 (-1.81%)
Disney
-4.8 (-4.12%)
Plug Power
+1.1 (+17.11%)
iBio
+0.135 (+9.28%)
IBM
-3.27 (-2.74%)
La-Z-Boy
-0.96 (-3.45%)
Norwegian Cruise Line
-2.36 (-13.08%)
Royal Caribbean
-6.8 (-12.50%)