US stock indexes are lower as retail sales take biggest two-month plunge on record

US retail sales have plummeted for the second month in a row producing the largest decline on record, as measures to contain the coronavirus crisis continue to ravage the economy.

World shares reflect pessimism about life returning to normal as the US shows worst retail figures on record. Picture: AP Photo/Vincent Yu

• Aussie stocks rebound despite ‘retail apocalypse’
• NYSE to partially reopen trading floor
• Asian shares mixed amid fears life won’t resume

Stocks managed to close modestly higher on Wall Street on Friday local time after a day of wobbling between gains and losses.

The S & P 500 rose 0.4 per cent. But the index still wound up with its biggest weekly drop since late March.

The market’s enthusiasm was checked by yet more grim data showing how badly the coronavirus pandemic is crippling the economy.

Retail sales sank a record 16.4 per cent in April and industrial production plunged a record 11.2 per cent.

At the same time, investors are cautiously optimistic that the fallout from the outbreak will begin easing as more US states reopen their economies.

Once the bustling retail artery of New York City, Fifth Avenue is now deserted as the shopping sector hits record low, impacting markets. Picture: AFP

The weak start erased some of the market’s gains from a day earlier. In early trading, the S & P 500 was down 0.4 per cent after the first hour of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 60 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 23,685.42.

The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, slid 0.5 per cent before settling .79 per cent up at 9,014.56.

Small-company stocks were doing better than the rest of the market.

Technology stocks bore the brunt of the selling, which outweighed gains in health care and other sectors.

TRUMP RESTRICTS HUWAWEI, IMPACTS TECH STOCKS

Chipmakers were among the biggest decliners after the Trump administration announced it is restricting the ability for Chinese telecom giant Huwawei to use US technology and software to design and manufacture its semiconductors abroad.

Lam Research and Qualcomm were down more than 4 per cent in the early going.

Energy stocks rose as crude oil prices climbed.

Benchmark US crude picked up 5.2 per cent, to $29 ($A45) a barrel. Brent, the international standard, was up 63 cents to $31.76 ($A49) a barrel.

The S & P 500 sank more than 30 per cent in February and March on worries about the coming recession and then snapped back by more than 30 per cent on hopes for a relatively quick rebound last month.

So far this month, however, stocks have been headed mostly lower as investors balance cautious optimism of a recovery as economies around the world slowly ease the restrictions on people and businesses put in place to curtail the coronavirus pandemic against worries that the moves could lead to another surge in infections and more economic uncertainty.

Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Asian shares declined Thursday on pessimism about life getting back to normal soon amid the coronavirus pandemic. Picture: AP Photo

Meanwhile, investors are beginning to fret about another possible flare-up in tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Major stock indexes in Asia ended mixed. Markets in Europe were moving higher, despite a report showing that Germany, the continent’s largest economy, fell into recession in the first quarter with a 2.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline. That pullback echoed economic declines in France and Italy.

Originally published as US stock indexes are lower as retail sales take biggest two-month plunge on record