· Dow, S&P 500 slide as focus shifts to earnings; Nasdaq gains
The Dow and S&P 500 fell on Monday as U.S. companies prepared to kick off a quarterly earnings season expected to be rough due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Amazon.com (AMZN.O) gains helped the Nasdaq end higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 328.6 points, or 1.39%, to 23,390.77, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 28.19 points, or 1.01%, to 2,761.63 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 38.85 points, or 0.48%, to 8,192.43.
Stocks pared losses late in the day, with the Nasdaq registering its first three-day streak of gains since Feb. 12. Amazon.com gave the index its biggest boost, gaining 6.2% as the retail giant said it would hire 75,000 more people amid a surge in demand for online orders.
Volume was lighter than usual with European and other markets still closed following Easter Sunday, but investors are also bracing for earnings news from companies, said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.
· Asia stocks edge higher as investors await China’s March trade data
Stocks in Asia edged higher in Tuesday morning trade ahead of the release of Chinese trade data for March.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.89% while the Topix index gained 0.39%.
Shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group recovered from an earlier drop of more than 3% as it last traded 2.79% higher. The firm announced on Monday that it expected its Vision Fund to book a loss of 1.8trillion Japanese yen ($16.73 billion) for fiscal year 2019, citing a “deteriorating market environment.”
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.95%. Shares in Australia also edged higher as they returned to trade following holidays on Friday and Monday, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.51%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.16% higher.
Meanwhile, China’s trade data for March is set to be out on Tuesday morning. It will be watched by investors as the country returns to business following its lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which has severely impacted economic activity.
Markets in India are closed on Tuesday for a holiday.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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