Weekly Financial Summary - Feb 28

Wall Street’s main index tumbled for the seventh straight day and is on track for their biggest weekly dip since the 2008 global financial crisis on worries the fast-spreading coronavirus could lead to a recession. The stock market correction that began last week, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside China intensified fears about the hit to economic growth and corporate earnings.

Wall Street’s main index tumbled for the seventh straight day and is on track for their biggest weekly dip since the 2008 global financial crisis on worries the fast-spreading coronavirus could lead to a recession. The stock market correction that began last week, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside China intensified fears about the hit to economic growth and corporate earnings. At session lows, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ were down more than 10% from their intraday record highs hit on 19 February, while the Dow Jones Industrials was 10% off its 12 February peak. Many large corporations such as Facebook, Apple, Starbucks, Microsoft, Pfizer, and many others are forecasting that the continued spread of the coronavirus globally could have an adverse impact on their business and financial results.

The market also pared losses slightly after the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, although the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remained strong and that the central bank will act as appropriate to provide support. Investors were dumping equities and moving to the safety of U.S. Treasuries, pushing 10-year yields to their fourth record low so far this week. The three indexes had closed more than 10% below their recent record closing highs confirming a correction and the S&P’s fastest in its history. One would recall my comments on the pending market corrections this year. Go look at the review will you! In the midst of COVID-19, I must admit that this is much faster than anyone expected. On this side of the world, the JMD strengthened in the Forex market this week as it advanced against three (3) of the major traded currencies. The JMD advanced by as much as $3.81 this week, but fell by $0.74 against the Euro.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) saw both the Main and Junior Markets declining this week. The Main Market fell by 1.57% while the Junior Market declined by 1.2%. Overall market activity resulted in 91 stocks trading, of which 41 advanced, 44 declined and 6 traded firm. In a reverse of fortune this week, Salada Foods Ja. (SALF) was the top performing Main Market stock after previously being named the worst performing Main Market stock last week. Stock Exchange debutant, First Rock Capital Holdings (FIRSTROCKJMD) which listed this week, was the worst performing stock falling by JA$5.13 or 30.77% to close at JA$11.54 after its Initial Public Offering (IPO) of JA$16.67. 138 Student Living (138SL) was also named one of the worst performing Main Market stocks this week after being named the top performing Main Market stock in the previous week. For the Junior Market, Access Financial Services (AFS) was the top performing Junior Market stock this week. AFS advanced by JA$4.84 or 17.22% to close at Ja$32.94 this week. IronRock Insurance Company was the worst performing Junior Market stock this week.

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