Stocks tumble as unemployment spikes on coronavirus layoffs

By Jonathan Garber FOXBusiness

U.S. economy lost 701K jobs in March, the unemployment rate jumped to 4.4%

U.S. equity markets tumbled on Friday after a dismal March jobs report showing the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. economy harder than expected. For the week stocks fell across the board as the number of coronavirus cases rose to 1,076,017 confirmed cases globally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 400 points or 1.68 percent as unemployment surged to a level near the worst of the Trump era. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped about 1.5 percent each.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	21047.17	-366.27	-1.71%
SP500	S&P 500	2466.3	-60.60	-2.40%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	7304.385155	-182.93	-2.44%

The Labor Department said the U.S. economy lost 701,000 nonfarm jobs in the month as the unemployment rate climbed to 4.4 percent. Wall Street economists surveyed by Refinitiv were anticipating a loss of 100,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent.

The U.S. economy had added 273,000 jobs in February as the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5 percent.

Meanwhile, oil bucked the downtrend for U.S. stocks on global efforts to stem the collapse of crude prices as coronavirus zaps demand.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose over 31 percent for the week, the biggest gain ever after reports indicated OPEC and its allies will hold a virtual meeting on Monday in an attempt to end the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

President Trump, in a meeting with oil executives on Friday, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Continental Resources, said he is behind the industry “1,000 percent.”

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
XOM	EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION	38.92	-1.48	-3.67%
CVX	CHEVRON CORP.	74.18	-1.94	-2.55%
CLR	CONTINENTAL RESOURCES	8.92	+0.58	+6.95%

Elsewhere, Tesla shares surged after the electric-vehicle maker reported record first-quarter deliveries despite disruptions caused by the pandemic. The company delivered 88,400 vehicles in the quarter, up from about 63,000 a year earlier.

Bed Bath & Beyond announced it was furloughing the majority of its workers until at least May 2.

On the earnings front, amusement company Dave & Buster’s reported better-than-expected top- and bottom-line results, but suspended its dividend and share buyback program.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
TSLA	TESLA INC.	476.67	+22.20	+4.88%
BBBY	BED BATH & BEYOND INC.	3.91	+0.35	+9.83%
PLAY	DAVE & BUSTER’S ENTERTAINMENT INC	9.87	-0.18	-1.79%
CHWY	CHEWY INC.	32.95	-2.11	-6.02%

Pet-food seller Chewy reported a smaller-than-anticipated loss and in-line revenue.

U.S. Treasurys gained ground, pushing the yield on the 10-year note lower by 3.7 basis points to 0.59 percent.

In Europe, markets were lower across the board, with Britain’s FTSE down 0.85 percent, France’s CAC lower by 1.2 percent and Germany’s DAX weaker by 0.2 percent.

Asian markets were mixed with Japan’s Nikkei edging up 0.01 percent while China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.6 percent and 0.19 percent, respectively.