REUTERS: The S&P 500 and Dow Jones slipped on Thursday, giving up early gains as concerns about rough first-quarter earnings and lasting economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic offset weekly jobless claims that were better than some had feared.
Wall Street has swung this week between hopes of a peaking in coronavirus cases and fears of the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression, as the lockdown measures crushed business activity. "We are still struggling to grab a foothold on the deterioration of what's going on," said Andrew Smith, chief investment officer at Delos Capital Advisors in Dallas.
Analysts estimate earnings for S&P 500 companies slumped 12.8per cent in the first quarter, with U.S. economic growth expected to have contracted at its fastest pace since World War Two. "What the market cannot price in perfectly is when the economy re-opens, what its nuances will look like and what its impact will be on corporate profits one quarter, two quarters and a year away," said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at Bahnsen Group in Newport Beach, California.