Closing the session on 6/5, the Dow Jones ended the chain of 3 consecutive days of increase when losing 218.45 points (equivalent to 0.9%) to 23,664.64 points. The index slipped to the bottom during the last trading hour. The S&P 500 also dropped 0.7% to 2,848.42 points. Both indexes gained at the beginning of the session. However, the Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.7% to 8,854.39 points when large technology stocks expanded their gains in recent sessions.
Shares of Facebook and Netflix inched up 0.7% and 2.3%. Amazon shares also jumped 1.4% compared to the reference, while Apple closed the session up more than 1%.
The US stock market was under pressure in this session when oil prices ended the chain of 5 consecutive increasing sessions. The downturn caused the energy group in the S&P 500 to drop 2.6%. Occidental Petroleum shares fell 12.5%, while Helmerich and Payne also fell more than 6%.
"The market is watching the process of reopening the economy," said Quincy Krosby, chief strategist at Prudential Financial.
Some states in the US have begun to relax social isolation measures. The state of California will allow non-essential businesses such as clothing stores, books and fresh flowers to be restricted from the start of May 8. The State of New York also plans to loosen restrictions on manufacturing, construction and some retail sectors from next week.
Investors were excited about the prospects of economic recovery in the near future but also considered the possibility of the second outbreak of Covid-19. Besides, the gloomy employment data shows that the impact is still serious.
The United States is currently the largest Covid-19 epidemic in the world with more than 1.22 million people confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus and 73,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The number of new cases of Covid-19 recently stopped increasing.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday "there will be more deaths" because of the Covid-19 epidemic. However, Mr. Trump also argues that not reopening the economy will also make people pay in other ways.
A report from ADP and Moody’s Analytics showed that the US private sector had cut 20.2 million jobs last month. This is the highest level they have ever recorded. However, this figure is still lower than the estimated 22 million jobs lost from Dow Jones.
"This is a problem when the government forces businesses to close and consumers are afraid to go out," said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. "When things reopen, a lot of work in This number will be restored but it is certainly not possible as it was before the crisis. "
