US close: Markets finish lower as reopening concerns continue

Stocks on Wall Street finished sharply lower on Tuesday, with the Dow booking its biggest one-day slump since the start of May, as market participants continued to monitor the White House's efforts to reopen the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 1.89% at 23,764.78, the S&P 500 was down 2.05% at 2,870.12, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.06% to close at 9,002.55.

At the open, the Dow was 77.50 points higher, reversing some of the losses recorded in the previous session, but ended the day 457 below the waterline as investor consternation around the speed at which the White House wanted to reopen the economy continued.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr Anthony Fauci told the Senate health committee during the afternoon that the US would face “needless suffering and death” if it reopened too soon, as the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic continued to rage globally.

Although the World Health Organization revealed that multiple countries that have relaxed coronavirus restrictions, including China, had seen increases in the number of positive Covid-19 cases, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said late on Monday that the state's restrictions on certain low-risk businesses and activities would be lifted on Friday.

US-Sino tensions were also in focus again after Donald Trump, who stormed out of a press briefing after a clash with a reporter on Monday, said he was not interested in reopening the pair's phase one trade deal and ordered US federal retirement funds to pull $4.5bn worth of investments in Chinese stocks.

In currency headlines, demand for the US dollar and government bonds remained firm as the US treasury prepared to issue $96bn in debt later in the week as part of an effort to finance government spending aimed at combating the coronavirus-fuelled economic damage ravaging the nation.

On the macro front, the cost of living in the US fell quicker than expected last month, amid sharp drops in the price of energy, apparel and transportation services.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US consumer price index fell at a month-on-month pace of 0.8% in April, pushing the year-on-year rate of increase in headline CPI down from 1.5% for March to 0.3%, compared to consensus forecasts for 0.4%.

The US monthly budget statement, published late in the day, showed a deficit of $737.85bn, which meant that for the fiscal year to date, the country had racked up a deficit of $1.48trn, compared to $531bn at the same time last year.

“Today’s numbers highlight the economic damage from the crisis, but also show how swiftly government has been able to step in to try and mitigate some of the effects that Covid-19 containment measures are having,” said ING’s chief international economist, James Knightley.

“Nonetheless, with unemployment continuing to climb and the corporate earning outlook highly uncertain, we expect to see even bigger borrowing figures in the months ahead.”

There was also a raft of updates from Federal Reserve heads on Tuesday, with St Louis president James Bullard saying the US' shutdown policy could last as long as 120 days without risking bankruptcies and broader financial problems.

Philadelphia president Patrick Harker, meanwhile, said the economy's recovery from the Covid-19 crisis would likely be uneven and could even be reversed if businesses opened too soon, potentially leading to a second wave of infection.

Minneapolis head Neel Kashkari warned that America would be unable to fix the economy until it gets its "hands around the virus".

"We might be in this for a long time."

In equities, mall owner Simon Property Group was down 0.98%, hotel operator Marriott International lost 3.62%, and its sector peer Wynn Resorts slid 4.85%, as investors tried to ascertain when such businesses could come even close to normal operation.

Rental car conglomerate Hertz was down 9.09% after it revealed deeper losses in the first quarter, while cannabis producer Tilray was off 7.55% after it too reported a worse loss than anticipated.

Chesapeake Energy plunged 14.88% as its woes continued, the oil and gas producer having reissued its going concern warning on Monday.

On the upside, GrubHub rocketed 29.07% after a report from Bloomberg suggested taxi and delivery giant Uber Technologies had made an offer to buy the US-focussed meal delivery firm.

Shares in Uber were ahead 2.4% by the closing bell.

Dow Jones - Risers

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $123.78 0.09%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $43.22 -0.23%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $287.70 -0.34%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $114.55 -0.66%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $77.19 -0.92%
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) $56.72 -1.12%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $311.41 -1.14%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $147.14 -1.32%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $232.90 -1.55%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $44.12 -3.54%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $105.00 -3.32%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $87.03 -3.27%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $177.21 -3.25%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $104.56 -2.98%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $88.26 -2.94%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $58.39 -2.89%
3M Co. (MMM) $141.52 -2.89%
Boeing Co. (BA) $125.22 -2.86%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $40.53 -2.83%

S&P 500 - Risers

ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $32.94 4.97%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $5.96 3.65%
AbbVie Inc (ABBV) $90.46 2.91%
General Mills Inc. (GIS) $62.51 2.80%
McCormick & Co. (MKC) $168.62 2.29%
ConAgra Brands Inc (CAG) $34.11 2.10%
Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) $98.73 1.67%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $18.42 1.32%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $16.90 1.20%
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $63.35 1.10%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Fluor Corp. (FLR) $9.10 -12.84%
Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $4.33 -9.41%
CBRE Group Inc (CBRE) $37.20 -8.87%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $36.98 -8.26%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $211.90 -8.01%
Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $59.26 -8.00%
Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN) $18.01 -7.97%
Digital Realty Trust (DLR) $132.93 -7.92%
Affiliated Mgrs Group (AMG) $60.96 -7.92%
Blackrock Inc. (BLK) $454.44 -7.84%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $14.93 6.49%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $360.65 1.27%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $47.03 0.66%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $321.55 0.39%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $101.65 0.31%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $29.38 0.17%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.24 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $179.20 0.00%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $43.22 -0.23%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $809.41 -0.23%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $36.98 -8.26%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $211.90 -8.01%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $45.69 -5.21%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $78.66 -4.85%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $146.84 -4.66%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $86.62 -4.55%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $65.54 -4.46%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $9.65 -4.46%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $53.06 -4.34%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $72.25 -4.25%