surge
surge

By Jonathan Garber, Suzanne O’Halloran FOXBusiness

U.S. equity markets soared in the final hour of trading as President Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus and enlisted the nation’s biggest companies in the fight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by over 1,985 points or 9.3 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also rallied over 9 percent.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
I:DJIDOW JONES AVERAGES23185.62+1,985.00+9.36%
SP500S&P 5002711.02+230.38+9.29%
I:COMPNASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX7874.231745+672.43+9.34%

Google, Walmart, Target, CVS and others will assist health officials in combating the outbreak and helping with procedures and testing.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
GOOGLALPHABET INC.1,214.27+102.72+9.24%
WMTWALMART INC.114.10+10.05+9.66%
TGTTARGET CORP.101.02+8.40+9.07%
CVSCVS HEALTH CORPORATION59.64+5.04+9.23%

The major averages rebounded from a Thursday selloff that was their steepest since the Black Monday crash of 1987. All three lost at least 9.5 percent amid an avalanche of cancelations and postponement of large social gatherings and sporting events aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus.

Friday’s gains come as the U.S. Congress, which was supposed to recess on Friday, works overtime to pass a stimulus package. Meanwhile, reports indicate Europe is set to announce measures on Monday that could amount to 1 percent of gross domestic product.

Some of the hardest-hit corners of the market were among the biggest gainers on Friday.

The cruise operators Carnival Cruise Corp., Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean Cruises, which have collectively seen nearly $50 billion — or over 70 percent of their value — erased amid the selloff, all gained at least 20 percent early in the session before paring their gains.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
CCLCARNIVAL CORP.17.58+2.61+17.43%
NCLHNORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE HOLDINGS LTD.11.10+1.45+15.03%
RCLROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES32.33+2.06+6.81%

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which have all lost more than half their value, were up at least 10 percent before pulling back.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
AALAMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC.14.31+0.86+6.39%
DALDELTA AIR LINES INC.38.36+4.65+13.79%
UALUNITED AIRLINES HLDG.41.64+4.56+12.30%

The online travel-booking sites Expedia and Booking Holdings rose.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
EXPEEXPEDIA GROUP, INC.69.63+4.59+7.06%
BKNGBOOKING HOLDINGS INC.1,421.33+140.93+11.01%

Bank stocks soared as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 0.920 percent and the yield curve steepened. Financial institutions make the majority of their money from the difference between interest paid to depositors — who supply the money a bank lends — and interest charged to borrowers.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
JPMJP MORGAN CHASE & CO.103.91+15.86+18.01%
BACBANK OF AMERICA CORP.24.16+3.65+17.80%
CCITIGROUP INC.51.04+7.78+17.98%
WFCWELLS FARGO & COMPANY30.89+3.69+13.57%

Big technology names, like Apple and Amazon were also in favor as Tesla shares dropped.

Meanwhile, the Walt Disney Company gained despite announcing the closure of both its Disney World and Disneyland theme parks.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
AAPLAPPLE INC.277.97+29.74+11.98%
AMZNAMAZON.COM INC.1,785.00+108.39+6.46%
TSLATESLA INC.546.62-13.93-2.49%
DISWALT DISNEY COMPANY102.52+10.71+11.67%

On the earnings front, Gap reported better-than-expected top- and bottom-line results but warned it would take a $100 million revenue hit in the current quarter due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Elsewhere, Slack Technologies, the workplace-messaging platform expected to benefit from more employees using technology to connect as they work from home during the outbreak, gave a disappointing first-quarter revenue forecast sending shares lower.

TickerSecurityLastChangeChange %
GPSGAP10.81+0.74+7.35%
WORKSLACK TECHNOLOGIES INC.19.59-1.76-8.24%

European markets also surrendered earlier gains but ended the day higher. Britain’s FTSE rose 2.46 percent, France’s CAC 1.8 percent. Germany’s DAX 0.77 percent. All had posted increases of more than 5 percent after opening.

Markets in Asia were under pressure at the close, with Japan’s Nikkei plunging 6.1 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite shed 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

NH POLITICIAN is owned and operated by USNN World News Corporation, a New Hampshire based media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information, local,...