MARKETS: U.S. stocks are slipping in midday trading, following other markets around the world.
A man looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. Asian stock markets have retreated following a surge driven by a Chinese tariff cut on U.S. imports.
The recent gains were so strong, however, that some market watchers caution that stocks may have gotten ahead of themselves. In the parlance of markets, some analysts said stocks had become “overbought.” That’s because health experts are still unsure about how far the virus will spread, how deadly it may be and how much damage it will ultimately cause the global economy.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 was down 0.3% from its record set Thursday, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time. That trims its gain for the week to 3.4 %, which would still be its best performance since June. HEALTHY SIGN: The U.S. jobs report is usually the most anticipated piece of economic data every month, and Friday’s report did not disappoint. Economists are impressed with how many jobs employers are adding, particularly more than a decade into this economic expansion.
The virus has infected more than 31,400 people around the world, and killed more than 630, nearly all of them in China. The director-general of the World Health Organization said Friday that a drop in the number of new virus cases for two days is “good news” but also cautioned against reading too much into that.
YIELDS: In a sign of the market's caution, Treasury yields fell as prices for ultra-safe U.S. government bonds rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 1. 58 % from 1.64% late Thursday.In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.7%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 0.2% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.3%.
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