[New York Close] Dow Fails to Rise for 4 Consecutive Days

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The New York stock market failed to continue its three-day winning streak and closed lower. However, on a weekly basis, it showed double-digit gains, indicating a recovery from the worst-case scenario.

On the 27th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 915.39 points (4.06%) to close at 21,636.78, the S&P 500 dropped 88.60 points (3.37%) to 2,541.47, and the Nasdaq fell 295.16 points (3.79%) to 7,502.38.

The Dow rose 12.84% for the week. The S&P 500 increased by 10.26%, and the Nasdaq gained 9.05% respectively.

Although the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package to overcome the COVID-19 crisis in the United States passed both the House and Senate and was signed by President Trump, concerns about economic recovery limited further gains.

The spread of infections is not decreasing. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have surpassed 100,000. Italy now has more confirmed cases than China. Global infections are approaching 600,000. The news that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 also shook investor sentiment.

The final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for March, released that day, was 89.1, down a significant 11.9 points from the previous month's confirmed figure of 101.0, marking the fourth-largest decline in about 50 years. This indicates that consumers are closing their wallets following the increase in unemployment the day before.

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), expressed concern about the global economy, stating that "it is clear we have entered a recession," and that it will be "as bad as or worse than the 2009 global financial crisis."

The dollar continued its downward trend. The dollar index, which measures the value of the dollar against major currencies, fell below the baseline of 100 the previous day and dropped about 1% more to 98.442 on this day.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), May delivery West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed at $21.51 per barrel, down 4.8% ($1.09) from the previous day. WTI recorded a 5% weekly decline, bringing it dangerously close to breaking below the $20 mark again.

April delivery gold closed at $1,625.0 per ounce, down 1.6% ($26.2) from the previous day. However, the weekly gain was as high as 9.5%. This represents the largest weekly increase in over 11 years since 2008.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.