Stock Market Continues to Plummet in Worst Week Since 2008: Live Updates
Investors are responding by selling stocks, as well as commodities like oil, as they anticipate the coming slump.
“To the degree that consumers change their behavior — so they stop going out to eat, they don’t take the vacation, they cancel the business trip — that consumption, that spending, personal consumption is 68 percent of G.D.P.,” said Scott Clemons, the chief investment strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman.
The virus is reverberating through global business.
Over the past few days, companies as varied as United Airlines, Anheuser-BuschInBev, Mastercard and Pfizer have said that the outbreak poses a threat to their 2020 earnings, and the overall effect of the outbreak on global corporations could increase the chance of a broader economic slowdown, analysts say.
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Baker McKenzie, the law firm based in Chicago, shut its London office, which houses about 1,000 people, after a potential coronavirus case.
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The airline group IAG, which owns British Airways and Iberia, said that it expected earnings to be weaker because of the virus, but it could not give accurate profit guidance for the year because of the uncertainty of the situation.
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The Swiss government banned all gatherings of more than 1,000 people at least until March 15, forcing cancellation of the Geneva International Motor Show.
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Facebook canceled one of its advertising events, which is attended largely by employees, and its annual F8 conference in California — one of the company’s most anticipated events where it showcases its products and plans for the future to software developers.
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Employees at Amazon’s worldwide operations — the company’s largest division, which runs the technology and operations for warehouses, deliveries, Prime membership and physical stores, among other things — were told that they should not travel domestically or internationally “until further notice,” according to emails viewed by The New York Times.
A shortage of pharmaceutical products made in China raises concerns.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday evening that a drug maker had notified the agency of a shortage that it said was caused by manufacturing problems at a site in China affected by the coronavirus epidemic.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/28/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus.html