The Dow and S&P500 logged their worst start to quarter ever as President Trump warned that a “very, very painful” two weeks lie ahead for the country in face of a rapidly spreading COVID-19 epidemic - Dow dropped -973-points or -4.44% (to 20,944) to settle with its worst opening to a quarter in its 124-year history. Boeing Co (down -12.36%), American Express (down -9.08%) and Dow Inc (-7.52%) all fell more than >7.5% The broader S&P500 fell -4.41% to book its worst start to a quarter since the index was created in 1957 . The Utilities (down -6.12%), Real Estate (-6.11%) and Financials (-5.97%) sectors all fell over >5%, leading all eleven primary sectors into the red. A collapse of showroom traffic in March led to a big drop in U.S. sales for major car companies in the first quarter. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (-5.15%) reported a -10% drop in first-quarter U.S. sales, saying strong results in January and February were more than offset by the impact of the virus in March. General Motors Co (down 7.3%) said its U.S. sales were down 7% in the January-to-March period, citing similar reasons, while Nissan Motor Co. reported a -30% drop in the first quarter. Ford Motor Co (-8.9%) is slated to release its first-quarter sales results tonight AEST. Cruise ship operator Carnival Corp rose +2.39% in the extended session (after ending the regular session down -33.18%) after securing a huge rescue financing package a US$4B senior secured bond offering that gives investors an 11.5% coupon, yielding near 12% yield on debt that matures in 2023. The NASDAQ -4.41%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index skidded -7.03% lower. The major indices touched their session lows in the final minutes of the session, with Dow briefly down over >1,100-points.
