The value of US stocks was lower last Thursday after incurring consistent losses this week. It was revealed that investors were struggling to find their footing amid uncertainty caused by the public health crisis in China.
According to Market Watch, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 0.44 percent at 29,000 but closed at 128.05 points at 29,219.09. It hit an intraday low at 28,959.65. The S&P 500 index also decreased by 0.38 percent and lost 12.92 points at 3,373.23. Lastly, the Nasdaq Composite Index was also down by 0.67 percent and lost 66.21 points at 9,750.96 after hitting an intrasession low of 9,636.94.
On the other hand, the Russell 2000 index did increase by 0.21 percent and gained 3.5 points at 1,696.07.
The report claimed that stock markets have been severely affected after investors considered to drive equity benchmarks to greater heights. Declines were attributed to lingering doubt about the impact of China's slowing economy to the global market.
According to the director of the portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisor Adam Phillips, investors have been reluctant about the transitory effect of the Chinese economy to world markets. He claimed that the three major stock indexes lost less than one percent from their all-time highs.
Phillips then noted that the effects of China's economy globally may only be short-lived. Among those that decreased was Morgan Stanley at 4.55 percent. The company further revealed that it would purchase E-Trade Financial Corp. whose yields also increased by 21.81 percent. The said acquisition was valued at 12 billion USD.
According to Yonhap News Agency, China's public health problems have reached South Korea thereby resulting in travel restrictions in the state. According to co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading Joe Saluzzi, the South Korean market had experienced a six-month uptrend.
He further added that there were already signs that indicated the market could be in trouble this week. He then suggested that investors have sold off some of their shares in the middle of the day.
Among the companies affected by the public health concerns were Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., and Apple Inc. Shares of Intel Corp. declined by 2.47 percent, Microsoft lost around 1.53 percent, while Apple Inc. also declined by 1.03 percent.
The report claimed that these technology companies were highly active in China and that their production processes were deeply affected by the slowing business activities in the country. The US dollar also declined along with these shares at 0.06 percent but was referred to by analysts as a stock haven for investors.
