WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: (L-R) U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attend a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, in the press briefing room of the White House on March 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in the United States, with New York's case count doubling every three days according to Governor Andrew Cuomo. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesU.S. stock futures opened lower Sunday night, signaling weakness in the wake of last week’s economy-defying rally.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.3% at 6:05 p.m., while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were both down 0.4%. Futures later recovered slightly, but remained in the red, with Dow and Nasdaq futures down about 0.4% and S&P futures off 0.1%.
The jittery start to the trading week came as White House officials sought to reassure Americans that economic recovery is just around the corner, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin projecting on Fox News Sunday a “better” third and fourth quarter, and a “great year” economically in 2021.
Yet the economic picture remains frightening. Mnuchin didn’t dispute an assertion by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace that the actual unemployment rate in the U.S. right now could be nearly 25%.
Meanwhile, as futures markets opened Sunday, Bloomberg reported that Vice President Mike Pence was self-isolating after his press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.
The news meant that many of the most visible leaders directing the White House’s Covid-19 response have now been forced into temporary isolation, and are at risk of falling ill.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease director, is under what he told CNN was a “modified quarantine.” The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are also now self-quarantining.
The domino-style progression of top government officials into self-quarantine raised the worrying spectre of a government potentially hobbled by illness at its highest ranks.
The unsettling Sunday evening follows a week of baffling recovery for the markets. The S&P 500 rose 3.5% last week, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 2.6%. These gains came even though the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that employment had fallen by 20.5 million jobs in April, with the unemployment rate hitting 14.7%.
The current situation is likely worse, as job losses have continued through the first week of May.
Get ready for more grim news next week. On Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Business will release its Small Business Optimism Index for the month of May. (Small businesses aren’t expected to be optimistic.) On Thursday, the Department of Labor will report initial jobless claims. And on Friday, the Census Bureau will report retail sales figures for the month of April, while the University of Michigan releases its Consumer Sentiment Index for May.
Meanwhile, earnings season is drawing to a close, with Cardinal Health (CAH) and Marriott International (MAR) reporting earnings on Monday; Honda Motor (HMC) and Toyota Motor (TM) on Tuesday; Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Sony (SNE) on Wednesday; and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) on Thursday.
Investors will also be on the lookout for possible bankruptcy filings from J.C. Penney (JCP) and Hertz Global (HTZ). A Penney filing, if it occurs, would follow recent bankruptcy filings by fellow retailers J. Crew and Neiman Marcus Group.
Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at josh.nathan-kazis@barrons.com
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Stock Futures Fall Slightly Sunday After Last Week’s Dazzling Rally - Barron's
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