Stock market news for US stock market, February 28, 2020

Another selloff for the US stock market ended with trimming losses at the close of the trading session. The big news for US stocks came from Fed chairman stating that Fed is monitoring the coronavirus developments closely and can act if necessary to support the economy. This was a big catalyst for buying stocks at lower levels and so the major stock market indexes came off their lows at the close.

“Fed Is Ready to Cut Rates in Response to Coronavirus. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday issued a rare and brief statement attempting to reassure investors who’ve been in a panic all week. He signaled that the U.S. central bank is prepared to cut interest rates to protect the economy from the growing threat.

Powell: Economy faces ‘evolving risks’ from virus

Powell wants you to know that the economy remains in a good position (its “fundamentals” remain strong, as he puts it), but he says the outbreak threatens to knock it off course.

“The coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity,” Powell’s statement says. “The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook.”

The release ends with the most important piece of information: “We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy.”

Source: Yahoo Finance

How stock market, US stocks closed on Friday, February 28, 2020-Financial and business news

• S&P 500: 2,954.22,-24.54(-0.82%)
• Dow 30: 25,409.36,-357.28(-1.39%)
• Nasdaq: 8,567.37,+0.89(+0.01%)
• Russell 2000: 1,476.43,-21.44(-1.43%)

Bonds

10-yr bond yield: 1.1270, -0.1720(-13.24%)

Commodities

Crude Oil: 45.26,-1.83(-3.89%)
Gold: 1,587.30,-55.20(-3.36%)

Stocks biggest gainers

Forty Seven, Inc. (FTSV) was among stocks biggest gainers closing at
58.00+9.21 (+18.88%).

Stocks biggest losers

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (VIR) was among stocks biggest losers closing at
46.50-13.70 (-22.76%).

Stock investing | Stock trading | Most active stocks

Bank of America Corporation (BAC) was among most active stocks closing at 28.50-0.63 (-2.16%).

U.S. Sectors & Industries Performance

Energy was the best performing sector +1.25%, Utilities was the worst performing sector -3.32%.

Stock market update

All data about stock market, stocks , stock investing, stock trading is taken from Yahoo Finance, Fidelity, and stockcharts.com.

This report is written by Stavros Georgiadis, CFA , Equity Research Analyst, Investment Strategist.