Stocks Surge as Trump Declares National Emergency: Live Market Updates

The fate of an economic relief package on Capitol Hill was left in doubt on Friday. Mr. Trump said Democrats are not “giving enough,” suggesting the two sides are still far apart on a bipartisan economic response. “We don’t think the Democrats are giving enough. We didn’t agree to certain things they agreed to. We could have something,” he said, adding “they’re not doing what’s right for the country.”

Late Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi had said that she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had “resolved most of our differences” on a package of economic aid for workers and companies. On Friday, when Ms. Pelosi spoke about the bill, she highlighted that it would fund testing programs to determine the scope of the outbreak but didn’t address whether it had bipartisan support or buy-in from the White House.

And on Friday, Germany’s government said that it would make more than $600 billion available to help companies there, while France pledged to unleash tens of billions of euros to prevent a potential jump in unemployment by paying small and medium-size businesses slammed by the epidemic to keep workers on furlough.

Olaf Scholz, the German finance minister, said that his government could take further steps, including taking stakes in companies, if deemed necessary. “We can’t forget the lessons of the previous financial crisis,” Mr. Scholz told reporters in Berlin.

The volatility in markets this week reflects the increasing concern that governments and central banks may not be able to meaningfully mitigate the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus.

In Europe, major indexes surged as much as 10 percent early in the day before losing steam as the week ended.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/business/live-stock-market.html