Editor’s note: This story will be updated after the closing bell.
It was another volatile day of trading for the U.S. stock market as early gains turned into losses in the afternoon amid fears of another coronavirus resurgence, plus more in today’s Closing Bell on Money & Markets.
The Top Story
All three major stock market indexes turned negative as investors grow more worried a second wave of the novel coronavirus will have a bigger impact on the economy than initially thought.
Shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) sank around 1.5% in afternoon trading after the iPhone maker announced it was going to close retail locations again in Florida, Arizona, South Carolina and North Carolina after an uptick in new COVID-19 infections.
“This (Apple news) is contrary to what many believe that no matter how bad the virus got, businesses and communities would not shut back down,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
Cruise line stocks also sent indexes lower after the Cruise Lines International Association announced it would suspend all operations out of U.S. ports until Sept. 15. Shares of Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) were trading over 5% lower Friday afternoon. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) stocks fell over 6% after the news dropped.
The VIX rose 3% at one point as volatility remained a constant in this week’s stock market. Part of the volatility can be attributed to the S&P 500’s first rebalancing of the year, scheduled to happen after Friday’s close.
At 3 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.48%, the S&P 500 was down 0.36%. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.06%.
Stock Market Update: Closing Bell*
S&P 500: 3,104 (-0.36%)
DOW: 25,955 (-0.48%)
NASDAQ: 9,936 (-0.06%)
RUSSELL 2000: 1,421(-0.38%)
VIX: 32.79 (-0.46%)
GOLD: $1,754.70 (+1.4%)
BITCOIN: $9,308.30 (-0.62%)
U.S. 10-YEAR YIELD: 0.69% (+0.005%)
*- as of 3 p.m.
A Big Win
In this morning’s Opening Bell, we told you to keep an eye on Tiziana Life Sciences ADR (Nasdaq: TLSA) after the company’s patent for its proprietary fully human antibody had been approved. Share surged in premarket trading, but a sell-off hit the stock hard. It was still trading around 3% higher in the afternoon.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) stock reversed course Friday after it walked back some good news regarding reopening its U.S. theater locations next month. The chain will now require patrons to wear masks at its locations, and shares dipped into negative territory, trading 2.3% lower in afternoon trading.
Golden Nuggets
Gold surged higher as investors grow more wary of a rise in new COVID-19 cases.
Spot gold was 1.1% higher around 3 p.m. EDT Friday, while gold futures traded 1.4% higher at $1,754.40 per ounce.
“There are continued upturns in COVID-19 (cases) throughout the South and Southwest of U.S. with uptick in the hospitalization rate. … That has caused a little bit of concern of another shutdown, which is benefiting gold,” said Jeffrey Sica, founder of Circle Squared Alternative Investments.
Other precious metal futures were up Friday afternoon as well. Silver and platinum rallied 2.1%. Palladium lagged the rest but was only down 0.1%, trading at $1,906.60 per ounce.
Cannabis Corner
Demand for legal recreational cannabis in Montana appears to be strong.
New Approach Montana submitted roughly 52,000 signatures for verification to get the initiative for adult recreational use on the state’s November ballot. That’s twice the signatures needed.
Fed to Set Bank Capital Levels via Pre-Pandemic Stress Test Model
The U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to rely on a stress test built before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic to set big bank capital requirements, but will make use of pandemic-specific analysis to inform whether banks can pay out funds to investors, a top official said Friday.
Fed Vice Chair Randal Quarles said in a speech that the Fed is testing banks against three possible economic trajectories of varying severity to see how they perform, citing “unprecedented uncertainty” about the pandemic’s long-term economic impact. Those results will help the Fed decide whether banks can pay out extra funds to investors via dividends or share repurchases.
Today’s Big Winners:
— as of 3 p.m. EDT
S&P 500: Incyte Corp. (Nasdaq: INCY) +5%
Nasdaq: Incyte Corp. (Nasdaq: INCY) +5%
Dow: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) +2.2%
Today’s Big Losers:
— as of 3 p.m. EDT
S&P 500: Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) -6.1%
Nasdaq: United Airlines Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: UAL) -5.8%
Dow: Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) -2.6%
Check back for the most important news and numbers each day after the Closing Bell, only on Money & Markets.
Reuters contributed to this report.