U.S. markets and stock exchange traded funds recovered toward the end of Thursday’s session after starting poorly in the early morning.
On Thursday, Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) rose 0.8%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) was up 0.2%, and iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) gained 0.5%.
“Investors are still heavily influenced by short-term outlook for the coronavirus,” Oliver Pursche, president of Bronson Meadows Capital Management, told Reuters. “Earlier this week we saw jump on good news about the vaccine, but now we have record new cases around the country and that’s changing investor sentiment and the rotation that you’ve seen out of growth stocks.”
Weighing on sentiment early morning was the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits. The number jumped unexpectedly last week, the latest indication that the economy may be slowing down with increasingly elevated layoffs due to spiking coronavirus cases and shutdowns.
“There’s a feeling that the economic recovery will be slower than many thought based on the data,” Pursche added.
The second wave of Covid-19 infections have already triggered school and business closures once again.
Meanwhile, positive updates on a possible coronavirus vaccine have helped offset some of the negative Covid-19 news. Pfizer is seeking authorization from health regulators within days for its Covid-19 vaccine, which helped fuel optimism among investors earlier in the week.
“Markets are grappling to price in two very different pieces of news across two very different time frames,” Hugh Gimber, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, told the Wall Street Journal. “The vaccine news is categorically positive, but it will play out over several months and several quarters. Investors are trying to balance that against the short-term news of rising cases and a deteriorating economic outlook.”
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