Reuters Insider - U.S. Morning Call: Dow, Trump, Amazon, Detroit Three, Tesla, Oil
19/03/2020 11:32
Click the following link to watch video: https://share.insider.thomsonreuters.com/link?entryId=1_976gqrwe&referenceId=1_976gqrwe&pageId=ReutersNews Source: Reuters Insider Description: U.S. stock futures fall a third time this week as central bank action fails to assuage investors. Amazon temporarily shuts a small New York warehouse after one of its associates tested positive for COVID-19. Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler confirm they will shut plants in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Tesla's Elon Musk offers to make ventilators. Oil prices halt three-day slump, but supply glut concerns remain. Short Link: https://tmsnrt.rs/392Yjtl Video Transcript: Good morning. I'm Matt Gooderick and this is your US morning call. It's looking like a rocky ride for Wall Street again. Despite all the extra liquidity being pumped into the markets, the S&P futures are slipping and so is the the Dow Industrials. Just to quantify how bad the selling has been - the Dow has erased effectively all gains recorded since President Trump was inaugurated. Confidence in his administration and stock markets have wilted even amid drastic measures. Well, Reuters caught up with Bankrate Senior Economic Analyst Mark Hamrick. We asked him when markets might turn. In terms of the magnitude of what we're experiencing, we think about the fact that this began as a supply shock emanating from Asia and China in particular, and now we have a demand shock where consumers and businesses are in many cases, if not curtailing their activity significantly, some are shutting it down. And, so this is going to be a severe episode for the U.S. and global economies. The question is how long? And to answer that question, we need to watch the advance of the virus and indeed, the point at which the virus stops peaking and begins to flatten that curve that we talk about. And those the curve of the virus is very much correlated to economic activity and ultimately the performance of financial markets. And it's clear that sweeping measures by the world's central banks isn't yet able to reassure investors. Australia today made a historic foray into quantitative easing, to try and halt the impact of the coronavirus. The ECB's printing EUR1 trillion this year to stem the rout. Meanwhile, President Trump has asked Congress to approve $500 billion in cash payments to taxpayers. Plus $50 billion in loans for airlines. Well, Amazon is closing its small New York warehouse temporarily after one of its associates tested positive for COVID-19. Investors watching the news to see if Amazon may close additional facilities should more of its staff become infected. US auto giants - the Detroit Three - will shut down US plants to stop the spread of the virus. Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler all confirmed they will close domestic plants as well as those in Canada and Mexico. Tesla boss Elon Musk has offered to make ventilators. His is not the first company to step forward in the fight against the outbreak. Softbank has offered a million free virus tests this month. Apple and Foxconn have also refitted production to make masks and similar items. The US appealed for donations of respirator masks amid a shortage. Okay, to oil now and prices surging almost 10%. The dramatic move coming after a three-day sell-off drove crude to their lowest levels in almost two decades. Demand concerns growing as the number of coronavirus cases increase worldwide. And finally, the Olympic Games or at least the preparation, must go on. That's according to Australian Team Chef de Mission for Tokyo 2020 - Ian Chesterman - who says athletes will continue to train ahead of the games. He defended their decision to follow the advice of the International Olympic Committee. We have to take faith in the IOC process they've set up with the World Health Organization to be ensuring that the environment which we are moving into is safe. And the two principles they've underlined are, that they will work to protect the athletes' safety, and ensure that nothing contributes to the spread of the coronavirus and the athlete interests are paramount. So that gives us faith and that's the way we need to keep on working. And that's today's morning call for you. I'm Matt Gooderick and this is Reuters