The U.S. stock market ended another turbulent day more or less where it started after an early rally got washed away.
Wall Street’s latest bumpy ride Thursday shows how fragile hope among investors is that global economies will be able to withstand the carnage being inflicted by the coronavirus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 39.44 or .17% to 23,515.26.
The NASDAQ composite index ticked down 0.63 or .0074% to 8,494.75.
The S&P 500 lost 1.51 or .054% to 2,797.80, a tiny loss after an earlier gain of 1.6%.
The market stumbled following news reports with discouraging data about a clinical trial for a potential treatment of COVID-19.
The extreme swings that have gripped markets for months, as investors struggle to set prices for where corporate profits and the economy will be months into the future.
The day started in positive territory as investors balanced hopes for new financial aid against more evidence of the economic devastation wrought by the pandemic lockdown.
New jobless numbers also revealed that 4.4 million Americans filed unemployment claims last week, a decrease more than 800,000 from last week’s 5.2 million claims. Economists have forecast that the unemployment rate for April could go as high as 20%.
The price of oil recovered further after a spectacular crash into negative territory earlier this week.
The U.S. House was expected to vote Thursday on a $483 billion proposal to deliver more loans to small businesses and aid to hospitals after the Senate approved it on Tuesday. EU leaders, meanwhile, were expected to approve Thursday a financial aid package worth the equivalent of $587 billion.
What it means
Investors are bracing for a severe, painfully deep recession after businesses shut down worldwide in hopes of slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Surveys of business managers in Europe showed a record fall in activity.
Even as depressing economic and health reports pile up, some investors are looking ahead to parts of the U.S. economy reopening as infections level off in some areas.
The new aid packages in the U.S. and Europe would come on top of huge amounts of existing financial support. The U.S. Congress has approved more than $2 trillion in aid already. EU institutions and nations have already deployed around 3.3 trillion euros.
That, plus massive support for markets from central banks, has helped stocks recover somewhat. The S&P 500 is up 25% since a low in late March. The index has roughly halved its loss from its record set in February.
The latest on oil
Benchmark U.S. crude added $1.53 to $15.31 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
It had zigzagged in the morning before turning higher after President Donald Trump threatened the destruction of any Iranian gunboats that harass U.S. Navy ships, raising the possibility of a disruption to oil supplies.
The big gain, though, means it’s recovered just a fraction of its steep losses. It was close to $30 at the start of last week and nearly $60 at the beginning of the year. A collapse in demand for energy combined with continued production in countries around the world means too much oil is sloshing around, depressing its price.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.44 to $21.81 per barrel.
Around the world
Trading was mixed in Asia, with Japan's Nikkei 225 adding 1.5% to finish at 19,429.44, while South Korea’s Kospi rose nearly 1.0% to 1,914.73.
France’s CAC 40 stock index rose 0.4%to 4,428. Germany's DAX fell 0.2% to 10,399 and Britain's FTSE 100 was flat at 5,768.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gave up earlier gains, losing nearly 0.1% to 5,217.10. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.4% to 23,977.32, while the Shanghai Composite inched down 0.2% to 2,838.50.
Prakash Sakpal and Nicholas Mapa, economists at ING, said a rise in oil prices, which have been crashing, was a help.
“But rising Covid-19 cases in the region will likely cap any rally,” they said in a commentary.
— Compiled by ArLuther Lee for The Atlanta Journal-Constitutions.
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