Wall Street Close: Benchmarks tumble into manic quarter's end

US benchmarks have sunk into the quarter's end, taking the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a level not seen since 1987 as investors fret over the COVID-19 pandemic and adverse impact on the American and wider global economy, surely taking it into a recession, putting an end to a ten-year bull market.

Consequently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 410 points, or 1.8%, to end near 21,917, the S&P 500 lost around 42 points, or 1.6%, to close near 2,585 and the Nasdaq Composite also dropped around 74 points, or 1%, to end up near 7,732 for a quarterly drop of around 14%. The S&P 500 was down by 20% for the same period and the DJIA was losing 23.2% for the worst first-quarter performance on record in the biggest overall quarterly decline since the fourth quarter of 1987. 

Down, down and down

Analysts at ANZ Bank explained the day's data, not looking at all good, down, down and down:

• Down: The US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell to 120.0 in March from 132.6 in February. The expectations index – based on the short-term outlook for income, business and labour market conditions – slumped to 88.2 in March from 108.1, but the present-situation data fell only slightly.
• Down: The Chicago PMI fell to 47.8 in March, down from 49.0 in February, but the fall was not quite as large as expected. Production and new orders fell, while supplier deliveries gained due to stock-piling behaviour.
• Down: Inflation in the euro area fell to 0.7% y/y in March – its lowest rate since October. Energy costs fell sharply (-4.3%) while food prices increased, running at 2.4% vs 2.1% the previous month.

DJIA levels