The Dow Jones is sliding this morning as investors grapple with the uncertainty of the coronavirus outbreak. Many believe the gains of last week to have been a mere correction from the substantial losses before.
We have a big week of earnings ahead. More on what's moving the Dow today, below.
Here are the numbers from Friday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
23,719.37
+285.80
+1.22
S&P 500
2,789.82
+39.84
+1.45
Nasdaq
8,153.58
+62.67
+0.77
Now here are what I think will be the most important market events and stocks on Monday morning.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Monday
Johns Hopkins University reports that the number of U.S. coronavirus cases topped 550,000 on Sunday, with the death toll now above 21,000. On Sunday, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci offered "cautious optimism" that the number of cases is slowing across the country. Fauci suggested that the United States may begin to reopen the economy starting as soon as May.
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Oil prices were up 1% on news that OPEC, Russia, and other producers have agreed to slash global production by 9.7 million barrels per day. That figure is much lower than analysts had anticipated (initial estimates called for 10 million to upwards of 20 million barrels per day). However, Mexico refused to join a larger deal, driving down the final figure. Mexico plans to cut just 100,000 barrels per day, down from the requested 400,000 from agreement participants. The agreement will begin on May 1 and taper down to 8 million barrels per day starting on July 1 through the end of 2020. U.S. President Donald Trump said the agreement "will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States." Oil prices are off more than 40% since early March.
This week is a very important one for Wall Street as companies start rolling out their earnings reports from the March-ending quarter. We'll be looking for reports from a number of Wall Street banks, including Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). We'll also look for a critical report from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) on Tuesday. Finally, one of the most important reports of the week on Wall Street will come from alternative asset manager BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK), which will likely provide a much-needed outlook on the global commercial real estate market for the year ahead.
Stocks to Watch Today: DIS, JPM
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) has announced plans to furlough roughly 43,000 union employees due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic. The company agreed to maintain employee health insurance and some other key benefits for up to 12 months, according to a statement from the Services Trade Council Union. Disney will not report earnings until May, but the firm has already warned that the coronavirus outbreak will badly hurt revenue and profitability.
Fears of an economic downturn have banks tightening their credit standards. According to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), any applicants for a new mortgage will require a 20% down payment on the loan in addition to a credit score of at least 700. The shift is a somewhat ominous warning about bank expectations for the housing market in the near future. JPM was the fourth largest provider of mortgage loans in 2019.
No major U.S. companies will report earnings on Monday.
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Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.