By
Steve Muchoki
April 16th, 2024
After a terrible market crash on Thursday, Dow futures and a few others, are starting to slowly correct some of the losses they incurred.
On average, 2020 has been quite a terrible year for the stock market. Stocks all over the world have been falling quite terribly for a while now, on fears of the coronavirus COVID-19. The outbreak has brought about so much volatility in the market that many analysts are finding it very hard to predict a reasonable trajectory like they normally would. However, it would seem that the volatility is starting to swing as futures on the Dow are rising again.
Dow Futures Correct Some Loss
Yesterday, futures on both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 crashed heavily. Analysts say that the plunge was their worst day since October 19, 1987, the popular “Black Monday”. Dow futures lost 700 points, with the S&P 500 losing 9.5% of its weight. It was the S&P’s worst day in about 30 years.
Movement on the Dow is starting to re-align favorably again. Dow futures surprisingly corrected losses, climbing up 580 points. Other futures including the S&P 500 and also the Nasdaq-100, corrected losses as well.
Dow Futures Aren’t In The Clear
While the price upswing is good news, it might be too early to celebrate. The market is facing extreme volatility right now, making it impossible to say that all is well with stocks again. Basically, as long as the coronavirus is still raging, the fear could plunge futures down again. According to Commonwealth Financial Network chief investment officer Brad McMillan:
“There are no guarantees here, and things could get worse. If the number of cases continues to increase, the economic damage will go from hitting confidence to something worse. If the economy deteriorates, markets will reflect that shift.”
Apart from the general fear stemming from the virus trajectory, there are also problems with liquidity. Capitol Securities Management chief economic strategist Kent Engelke told MarketWatch that “the emerging liquidity crises” is very easily the market’s biggest issue.
To help buoy the economy, the U.S. Fed announced that it plans to pump in $1.5 trillion, specifically towards short-term lending markets. It also plans to buy treasury bonds for the next month, worth $60 billion. This is all to make sure that the market runs as expected. The announcement was well-received by Wall Street as it helped to calm things down just a little bit.
Other Markets So Far
The Nikkei 225 (N225) in Japan officially edged into a bear market on Thursday and lost 9%, a new record since November 2016. It has however recovered a little, to a 5% loss. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) in Hong Kong lost 0.9% with the Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) in China losing 1.2%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 7% but ended up gaining 4.4% The Kospi in South Korea also corrected an 8% fall to 6%.
Oil futures are also rising again. The May Brent crude went up to $34.01 per barrel, increasing 2.4%. The West Texas Intermediate crude went up as well, increasing 3% to $32.50