President Trump says the U.S. should be ready to tackle a potential coronavirus outbreak, but he’s not concerned about it.
U.S. equity futures suffered a steep decline overnight after President Trump announced the U.S. was stepping up its efforts to combat the coronavirus outbreak that began in China.
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The major futures indexes are indicating a loss of 0.7 percent, or more than 180 Dow points.
In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei lost 2.1 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.7 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.1 percent.
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Trump told reporters he was open to spending “whatever’s appropriate” to fight the virus, after the Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York suggested $8.5 billion instead of the requested $2.5 billion. He put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the effort.
President Donald Trump with members of the president’s coronavirus task force waves as he ends a news conference at the Brady press briefing room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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But health officials standing beside Trump warned more infections are coming. And shortly after Trump spoke, the government announced that another person in the U.S. was infected — someone in California who appears not to have the usual risk factors of having traveled abroad or being exposed to another patient.
Major U.S. stock indexes gave up early gains, closing mostly lower Wednesday and extending the market’s heavy losses for the week.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 26957.59 | -123.77 | -0.46% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3116.39 | -11.82 | -0.38% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 8980.774761 | +15.16 | +0.17% |
The S&P 500 index fell 0.4 percent. It is on track for its biggest monthly decline since May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 123.77 points, or 0.5 percent, for a three-day loss of 2,034 points. A modest rally in technology stocks helped nudge the Nasdaq composite to a 0.2 percent gain.
A resident of Jongno-Gu wearing a face mask sprays disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus at the Jogyesa Buddhist temple in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb.27, 2020. South Korea and China each reported Thursday the new illness persist
Bond yields headed lower for much of the day, but then recovered mostly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 1.34 percent from 1.33 percent late Tuesday. The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill edged up to 1.51 percent. The inversion in the yield between the 10-year and the 3-month Treasurys is a red flag for investors because it has preceded the last seven recessions.
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Energy companies led the selling Wednesday as the price of U.S. crude oil fell 2.3 percent.
Cruise operators continued falling amid persistent virus fears. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fell 7.9 percent, Royal Caribbean Cruises dropped 8.1 percent and Carnival slid 7.5 percent.
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Benchmark crude oil fell 60 cents to $48.14 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday it lost $1.17 to settle at $48.73 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, shed 61 cents to $52.82 per barrel. It dropped $1.52 to close at $53.43 a barrel.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
