200 points drop as worries about rising COVID-19 cases in Europe weigh on bulls

What drives the market?

Notice about 20 days nationwide COVID lockdown by the Austrian government spooked stock markets and spurred safe-haven government bond purchases on Friday.

The Austrian embargo will cover both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, with movement for the latter having been restricted for the past week. News from Vienna as Germany’s health minister on friday said that lockdowns in his country cannot be ruled out, with record cases this week in Germany and Austria.

“I think we are seeing a sharp reaction to the Austrian shutdown announcement, which is more of a reflection of fear than reality,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA. “Other countries such as the US, UK and others will be very reluctant to impose such measures again and will likely adopt lighter measures, if necessary, and unless unavoidable. .”

In the United States, cases are on the rise in the Upper Midwest, with a busy travel season set to kick off ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday next Thursday. Additionally, the daily case count topped 100,000 for the second straight day on Thursday, with the seven-day average rising to a six-week high of 94,669, according to the report. a New York Times Tracker.

Reports of increased cases also pushed oil prices down on fears of reduced demand due to the COVID lockdown. West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell
CL00

3% to $76.08/barrel and Brent oil
BRN00

Crude oil fell 3.3% to $78.49 a barrel, at its last test early Friday.

A mixed week of stocks was poised to leave the S&P 500 with gains of nearly 0.4%, the Nasdaq up 0.8%, while the Dow fell 0.6% in the week to Thursday. Markets will be closed for the US Thanksgiving holiday next Thursday, with a shortened trading session on Friday.

Still, some analysts remain bullish on equities.

“Buy any dips over the next two weeks and position for the next couple of months to be bullish,” Navellier & Associates wealth management founder Louis Navellier advised clients in a note today. Thursday.

“The expectation is that interest rates will rise and penalize growth stocks rather than stock valuations due to P/E multiple compression,” he said. “Most likely now is a period of consolidation, with the bias tilted in favor of the P/E multiples. companies have strong cash flow, and then there’s a big big-name sprint at the end of the year with a transition to the traditional risk-on phase in January.”

Read: Should stock market investors ‘miss the rally’ to buy now? Here’s what UBS says

The US economic calendar is clear for Friday, although Federal Reserve No. 2 Richard Clarida will speak.

The market is waiting for President Joe Biden to nominate who will head the central bank after Jerome Powell’s term ends in February. Markets expect Biden to give up on Powell or Fed Governor Lael Brainard.

Read: Why banks prefer Brainard to Powell leading the Fed

In a separate development, House Democrats are poised to move Friday on Biden’s $1.85 trillion social spending program, following plans for a vote on Wednesday. Thursday night delayed by a nearly four-hour speech by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Which companies to focus on?

• Shares of Walmart Inc. WMT rose 0.4% on Friday, after the discount retail giant received a bullish boost from MKM Partners analyst Bill Kirk, who said the company is “doing the most, but getting the least”. most creditable.”

• Shares of Foot Locker Inc. FL fell 10%, even after the athletic footwear and apparel retailer reported fiscal third-quarter profit on Friday, and revenue rose more than expected, while selling expenses fell and let know they’re “ready” for the holiday despite supply chain issues.

• KinderCare Learnings Inc. KLCsaid it would postpone the initial public release, citing regulatory delays.

• Shares of Workday Inc. TODAY fell 4.5% after the software company reported third-quarter financial results that beat Street estimates, the appointment of Barbara Larson as its new chief financial officer, and its intention to acquire VNDLY, a management software company. cloud-based vendor management.

• Nike Inc. NKE said late Thursday that the company’s board of directors approved an 11% dividend increase to 30.5 cents a share. Its shares rose 1.1%.