U.S. stock futures wobble and oil drops sharply as investors grapple with the coronavirus’s mounting economic toll
By Joe Wallace and Joanne Chiu Updated March 30, 2020 5:15 am ET U.S. stock futures wobbled and oil dropped sharply Monday as investors grappled with the mounting economic toll after U.S. government officials signaled that measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic may remain in place for an extended time.
Markets have entered a new phase in their response to the pandemic, said James McCormick, a strategist at NatWest Markets. After governments and central banks took extraordinary steps to backstop livelihoods and the financial system in March, investors are now attempting to assess the economic impact of the worsening pandemic and the effectiveness with which these stimulus packages are deployed.
West Texas Intermediate, the main U.S. crude gauge, fell 5.3% to $20.35 a barrel. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, slumped 6.1%, extending its plunge this year to more than 60%. “There’s still a lot of bad news to come on the macro front,” said Nicholas Brooks, head of research at International Capital Group, referring both to economic data and the coronavirus death toll. “It’s hard to see a sustained rally in markets in this kind of environment.”The South African rand fell to a record against the dollar after Moody’s Investors Service cut its credit rating to junk.
One outlier in global markets was Australia, whose benchmark S&P/ASX 200 soared 7% by the close of trading Monday after the government unveiled a A$130 billion wage-subsidy program.
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