US markets retreated as investors eyed tentative efforts to re-open the economy and trade tensions between the US and China - Dow down -457-points or -1.89%, logging its largest percentage decline since 1 May. The broader S&P500 shed -2.05%, with Real Estate (down -4.25%) leading all eleven primary sectors lower. Six primary sectors logged falls of over >2%. Airlines were under fresh pressure following comments from Boeing Co (down -3.24%) Chief Executive Officer David Calhoun during an interview aired on NBC’s “Today” show that the lockdowns of business and travel to combat the coronavirus pandemic may lead to a major U.S. airline “most likely” going bankrupt. Mr Calhoun didn’t identify any carrier, and Bloomberg News quoted a Boeing spokesman as saying the CEO wasn’t referring to any airline in particular. Calhoun said airlines won’t be back to even 25% business by the autumn, and “maybe by the end of the year we approach 50 [percent].” Delta Air Lines fell -4.26%, United Airlines Holdings -5.63% and American Airlines Group Inc -5.29%. The technology-centric NASDAQ fell -2.06%, snapping a six session winning streak and paring its year-to-date gain to +0.3%. Zillow Group Inc fell -11.96% after the on-line real estate group announcing it would sell stock and convertible bonds in a secondary public offering. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is slated to speak in current economic issues tonight AEST.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s leading infectious diseases doctor, warned that the country faces “needless suffering and death” if the nation reopens too early during the coronavirus pandemic, as top health officials emphasised in Senate testimony the need to move with caution and expand testing.
