this earnings season in the wake of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, which has produced the most cases of any country. Economists widely expect a severe economic downturn as a result.
The S&P Composite 1500 airlines index, for instance, remains down 51.8% since Feb. 19, when the benchmark S&P 500 ended its nearly 11-year bull market and coronavirus fears sparked a deep sell-off on Wall Street. The S&P 500 is down 17.6% since that date. Technology’s relatively high cash balances and lower debt make it “a rare cyclical safe-haven,” said Daniel Morgan, vice president and senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Company in Atlanta, Georgia.
The rush to stock up on household items like toilet paper and cleaing materials has driven up shares of staples companies since the outbreak, which began in China late last year and then spread through Europe and the United States. Shares of Gilead Sciences and Regeneron, which are developing potential treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, have performed particularly well.The S&P 500 health care index is down less than 9% since Feb. 19.