U.S. markets and stock ETFs dipped Friday as concerns about the potential economic impact from the sudden turn in coronavirus cases weighed on risk sentiment.
On Friday, the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) was flat, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) was down 0.3% and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY) fell 0.1%.
The spread of the coronavirus remained a focal point of concern after health authorities revealed 5,000 new cases on Friday, Reuters reports.
Many are concerned that the world’s second-biggest economy will expand at its slowest pace since the financial crisis in the current quarter, but some took solace in hopes that the downturn will be short-lived if the outbreak is contained in a timely fashion.
“This seems to be a teflon market, where any negativity – whether it is coronavirus or anything – for now continues to get shrugged off,” Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities, told Reuters.
Nevertheless, investors are banking on accommdative measures from global central banks to continue supporting a broad market rally and counteract any black swan events, such as weakness from a spreading coronavirus.
“The market wants to believe this is a one-quarter blip and we’re back to the races,” Neil Dwane, global strategist at Allianz Global Investors, told the Wall Street Journal.
Instead have instead focused on strong economic and earnings data. For example, Nvidia shares surged after the graphics-chip maker’s fourth-quarter earnings beat Wall Street’s expectations. Expedia Inc shares also jumped after the online travel services company revealed strong quarterly core earnings amid coronavirus uncertainties.
As the fourth-quarter earnings season approaches the end, about 71% of the 378 S&P 500 firms that have reported so far have beaten earnings estimates, according to IBES by Refinitiv.
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