Investors are also anticipating other central banks will follow up on the Federal Reserve’s surprise move Tuesday to slash interest rates by half a percentage point in hopes of protecting the economy from the economic fallout of a fast-spreading virus. Canada's central bank cut rates on Wednesday, also by half a percentage point and citing the virus' effect.
Even though many investors say they know lower interest rates will not halt the spread of the virus, they want to see central banks and other authorities do what they can to lessen the damage. The S&P 500 sank 2.8% on Tuesday after a brief relief rally triggered by the Fed’s rate cut fizzled. An indicator of fear in the market, which measures how much traders are paying to protect themselves from future swings for the S&P 500, eased by 10% in morning trading. The price of gold, which tends to rise when investors are feeling fearful, also dipped $1.30 to $1,643.10 per ounce.
Health care stocks in the S&P 500 jumped 3.6% for the biggest gain by far among the 11 sectors that make up the index. UnitedHealth Group rose 8.9%, Anthem jumped 13.2% and Cigna added 9%. Data reports released Wednesday painted a U.S. economy that was still holding up, at least in the earliest days of the virus spreading to the country. The country's services industries grew at a faster rate last month than economists expected, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management. Hiring at private employers was stronger than expected in February, according to a report from payroll processor ADP, though slower than January's pace.
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