US open: Stocks find slight bid despite dismal economic data

Shares on Wall Street got off to a slightly higher start helped by the latest moves from authorities to offset the fallout from the corovanirus pandemic and the immediate effect of efforts to contain it.

At an emergency meeting overnight, the US Federal Reserve announced measures to avoid a run on money market mutual funds, followed on Thursday morning by an announcement from the Department of Energy that it woud purchase 30m barrels of US oil by 26 March.

In the background meanwhile, financial markets were also waiting on news of Congress's eagerly anticipated fiscal stimulus plans to help shore up the economy, even as economists forecasts continue to come down.

A case in point, on Thursday morning, analysts at BofA Securities marked down their projection for global GDP growth in 2020 to 0%, which would match the "major" recessions experience in 1982 and 2009.

"The evolving news on COVID-19 has triggered "forecast leap frogging," with economists and strategists repeatedly lowering their forecasts. Here we take a big leap, as we try to make our forecast robust to the near-term news flow," BofA said in a research note sent to clients.

Against that bacdrop, the Dow Jones Industrials was edging up 0.12% to 19,921.96, alongside a 0.24% advance for the S&P 500 to 2,403.91, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.93% higher to 7,124.77.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were also on the up, bouncing 13% to $23.46 a barrel on NYMEX.

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was down by eight basis points to 1.10%.

To take note of there was speculation that the Fed might yet ramp-up its quantitative easing further.

And Congress meanwhile was expected to unveil a package of stimulus measures worth roughy $1.3trn.

Nevertheless, the latest batch of economic data were grim.

According to the Department of Labor, initial jobless claims increased by 70,000 over the week ending on 14 March to reach 281,000, as the virus disrupted activity across the accommodation, food and transportation sectors.

Consensus had been expecting 225,000. what one economist based in the City termed "a bad joke".

Factory sector activity also weakened significantly, with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's manufacturing gauge plummeting by 49.4 points between February and March to reach -12.7, its biggest fall for a single month since 2012.

Dow Jones - Risers

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $92.56 4.23%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $141.88 3.34%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $143.83 2.72%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $124.37 1.46%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $101.23 1.11%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $141.53 0.80%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $218.71 0.76%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $37.36 0.65%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $81.68 -0.01%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $42.03 -6.29%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $127.29 -5.68%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $75.49 -4.92%
Boeing Co. (BA) $97.39 -4.42%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $31.08 -3.96%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $53.03 -3.66%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $100.16 -3.27%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $51.09 -3.26%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $114.18 -2.78%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $69.64 -2.78%

S&P 500 - Risers

Fluor Corp. (FLR) $5.08 49.41%
Ventas Inc. (VTR) $20.70 22.00%
Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG) $53.46 19.01%
Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $11.02 18.37%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $8.29 18.26%
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) $30.84 17.50%
MGM Resorts International (MGM) $8.34 16.81%
Welltower Inc (WELL) $38.59 16.16%
Transdigm Group Inc. (TDG) $281.07 14.35%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $9.61 13.46%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $55.39 -12.50%
Textron Inc. (TXT) $22.63 -12.25%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $30.91 -12.06%
Wyndham Destinations Inc. (WYND) $15.85 -10.60%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $10.57 -9.23%
Harley-Davidson Inc. (HOG) $18.31 -9.18%
Atmos Energy Corp. (ATO) $96.16 -9.15%
Eversource Energy (ES) $78.57 -8.90%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $237.21 -8.85%
Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) $77.89 -8.76%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $398.04 10.19%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $23.75 9.80%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $49.94 9.40%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $47.01 9.27%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $182.88 8.94%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $13.67 8.49%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $78.03 8.23%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $211.85 7.54%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $64.39 7.37%
Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) $38.05 6.64%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $55.39 -12.50%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $10.57 -9.23%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $192.82 -6.00%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $214.10 -4.87%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $112.95 -3.95%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $171.12 -3.85%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $22.82 -3.67%
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $53.92 -3.53%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $392.58 -3.47%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $51.09 -3.26%