Association of Equipment Manufacturers senior vice president Kip Eideberg says the decreased demand and stressed supply chains have caused manufacturing businesses to lay off employees during the coronavirus pandemic.
Stocks dipped lower Friday as a rebound in COVID-19 infections began to slow America’s reopening from economically wrenching lockdowns meant to curb the pandemic’s spread.
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The U.S., which has the most infections in the world, recorded an all-time high of about 40,000 new cases on Thursday after states and cities began allowing people back in stores, restaurants and public gathering spots such as beaches.
Arizona alone confirmed 3,056 new cases Thursday, and Gov. Doug Ducey said the state would delay further phases of its reopening, joining Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana and Delaware.
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The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 580 points, or 2.25 percent, while the broader S&P 500 dipped 1.81 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.02 percent, turning negative for the week.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 25186.83 | -558.77 | -2.17% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3030.42 | -53.34 | -1.73% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 9822.558982 | -194.44 | -1.94% |
On Wall Street, investors balanced the Federal Reserve’s decision to cap dividends and halt stock-buybacks until at least Sept. 30 against an easing of the so-called Volcker Rule.
The regulation, named for former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and imposed after the 2008 financial crisis, barred banks from speculative trades on their own accounts; easing it may buoy their revenue.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPM | JP MORGAN CHASE & CO. | 93.28 | -4.68 | -4.78% |
| BAC | BANK OF AMERICA CORP. | 23.47 | -1.25 | -5.06% |
| C | CITIGROUP INC. | 50.20 | -2.48 | -4.71% |
| MS | MORGAN STANLEY | 46.95 | -1.84 | -3.77% |
| GS | GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC. | 193.75 | -13.35 | -6.45% |
Limiting payouts to investors will also preserve capital as lenders navigate the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
In Silicon Valley, an advertising boycott against Facebook gained a major new participant in telecommunications firm Verizon.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FB | FACEBOOK INC. | 222.08 | -13.60 | -5.77% |
| VZ | VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC. | 53.48 | -0.81 | -1.48% |
| GOOG | ALPHABET INC. | 1,397.82 | -43.51 | -3.02% |
Companies from Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, The North Face and Eddie Bauer are pressuring the business founded by Mark Zuckerberg and other social media firms to do a better job of curbing hate speech on their platforms.
An antitrust probe of search-engine giant Google is nearing completion, meanwhile, according to a report from Reuters, which said the Justice Department has requested information by the end of this month from companies that say Google abused its dominance of the internet advertising market.
VERIZON JOINS FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM AD BOYCOTT
In the consumer sector, Nike was under pressure after a $790 million loss in a quarter when almost all of its stores were shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sales plummeted 38 percent to $6.3 billion, falling far short of the $7.3 billion that Wall Street analysts expected, according to Refinitiv data.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NKE | NIKE INC. | 95.69 | -5.71 | -5.63% |
In commodities markets, West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.65 percent to $38.47 while gold dropped 0.07 percent to $1,769 an ounce.
European markets were mixed, with London’s FTSE gaining 0.66 percent and France’s CAC 40 adding 0.39 percent. Germany’s DAX fell 0.32 percent.
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Asian stock markets were mixed: The Nikkei in Tokyo rose 1.13 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.93 percent.
