The health crisis has increasingly become an economic one.
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The coronavirus pandemic has quickly evolved from a health crisis to a financial one, shuttering businesses, upending entire industries and sending financial markets reeling.
Here’s the latest news on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the economy. For more on financial resources available during the pandemic, click here.
Markets uptick slightly after weeks of volatility
U.S. financial markets showed some signs of stabilization after a volatile few weeks, inching upwards slightly on Monday morning.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 250 points, or slightly over 1% by mid-morning Monday. The S&P 500 was up more than 1.5% and the Nasdaq spiked more than 2%.
Markets slipped last Friday after three days of back-to-back gains earlier in the week.
Over the weekend, President Trump officially reversed his call to reopen businesses by Easter and said he will extend the nation’s coronavirus social distancing guidelines to April 30.
“The modelling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks,” Trump said at his daily briefing at the White House. “Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won.”
The guidelines cover work-from-home directives, travel limitations, business closures and other efforts to combat the virus. Trump said that his office would give more details about the new plans on Tuesday.
The announcement came just days after the president said he hoped that Easter would be a celebration of the virus’ defeat.
