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Stock market closes quarter on lower note
31-Mar-20 16:15 ET
Dow -410.32 at 21917.22, Nasdaq -74.05 at 7699.45, S&P -42.06 at 2584.59

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market ended the tumultuous first quarter in negative territory on Tuesday, while investors continued to assess the latest news on the coronavirus and the policies proposed to address its impact. The S&P 500 closed near session lows with a 1.6% decline after a brief stay in positive territory early in the session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.8%, the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.0%, and the Russell 2000 lost 0.5%.

Notably, President Trump said a $2 trillion infrastructure bill should be included in the fourth part of a stimulus bill with U.S. interest rates near zero. Prior to the statement, Bloomberg reported that White House officials were looking into a $600 billion relief bill for mortgage markets, the travel industry, and state governments.

There was another story from a Bloomberg reporter that President Trump approved a proposal pushed for by some businesses to delay payment of certain tariffs by 90 days. An announcement could come as soon as this week. Market reaction was muted, although shares of Caterpillar (CAT 116.04, +4.33, +3.9%) likely benefited from the president's infrastructure proposal.

Instead, quarter-end rebalancing contributed to the outperformance of the distressed energy sector (+1.6%) and, conversely, the sharp declines in the defensive-oriented utilities (-4.0%) and real estate (-3.3%) sectors.

On the coronavirus front, NIAID Director Dr. Fauci said there have been "glimmers of hope" that social distancing is helping to curtail the spread of COVID-19, but the situation remained dire with the number of infections continuing to rise in the U.S. On a related note, Texas Governor Abbott issued a "stay at home" order until May 4.

Separately, the Fed established a repurchase agreement facility as an alternative source for foreign central banks to temporarily exchange their U.S. Treasury securities for U.S. dollars. This was simply the latest "whatever it takes" action by the Fed to support financial markets.

U.S. Treasuries had a relatively quiet day, ultimately closing mixed and little changed. The 2-yr yield declined one basis point to 0.20%, while the 10-yr yield increased three basis points to 0.70%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 98.99. WTI crude increased 1.5% to $20.52/bbl, although it was up more than 8% in the session.

Reviewing Tuesday's economic data:

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for March dropped to 120.0 (Briefing.com consensus 110.0) from an upwardly revised 132.6 (from 130.7) for February. The March reading is the lowest since July 2017.
The key takeaway from the report is that the downturn was not as bad as feared; however, the prevailing expectation is that consumer confidence will get much worse due to the impact of the coronavirus and its effect on consumer attitudes about job security and income growth prospects.
The Chicago PMI decreased to 47.8 in March (Briefing.com consensus 40.0) from 49.0 in February.
The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for January increased 3.1% following an upwardly revised 2.8% increase in December (from +2.9%).

Looking ahead, investors will receive the ISM Manufacturing Index for March, the ADP Employment Change Report for March, Construction Spending for February, the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index, and auto and truck sales for March on Wednesday.

Nasdaq Composite: -14.2%
S&P 500: -20.0%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -23.2%
Russell 2000: -30.9%

Market Snapshot
Dow 21917.22 -410.32 (-1.84%)
Nasdaq 7699.45 -74.05 (-0.95%)
SP 500 2584.59 -42.06 (-1.60%)
10-yr Note +4/32 0.686
NYSE Adv 1293 Dec 1598 Vol 1.7 bln
Nasdaq Adv 1630 Dec 1642 Vol 4.0 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Energy
Weak: Real Estate, Utilities

Moving the Market

-- Stocks falter on final day of quarter

-- White House reportedly discussing plans for "phase four" relief bill; President Trump proposes $2 trillion infrastructure bill

-- Fed creates temporary repurchase facility for foreign central banks

WTI crude posts modest gain as stocks fall to session lows
31-Mar-20 15:25 ET
Dow -413.14 at 21914.40, Nasdaq -117.06 at 7656.44, S&P -49.88 at 2576.77

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is trading at session lows with a 2.0% decline.

One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows all trading in the red, led lower by real estate (-4.8%), utilities (-3.6%), and financials (-3.5%). The energy sector is down just 0.4%.

WTI crude settled today's session up $0.30 (+1.5%) to $20.52/bbl, although it was up by more than 8% earlier in the session.