Futures markets are pointing to a better trading day Tuesday after sinking oil prices and mounting coronavirus fears pushed the stock market to significant losses on Monday, marking its worse day since the 2008 financial crisis.
On Tuesday morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed down more than 2,000 points the previous day, showed gains of 750 points, to 24,628. S&P 500 futures indicated gains of 85 points to 2,833 and Nasdaq futures advanced 254 points to 8,206.
The aggressive rebound follows commentary from President Donald Trump at a press briefing Monday night, when he indicated he would meet with Congress Tuesday for “a possible tax-relief measure” to address the coronavirus crisis.
It was likely welcome news for footwear players who, like many global businesses with operations in China and other countries hit hard by the coronavirus, have been seeing significant business impacts as they shoulder travel bans, declining foot traffic in stores and other corporate challenges.
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This week, shoe stocks have been moving in tandem with the market. Under Armour, Nike Inc. and Skechers USA Inc. have all shown signs of recovering Tuesday morning after being swept up in Monday’s ferocious sell-off. As of 9 a.m. ET, shares for Nike were up 2.7% to $86.36, Under Armour gained 3.4% to $10.25 and Skechers advanced 2.1% to $28.35.
Over the weekend, China, where the virus originated in December, reported a 17% drop in exports and a 4% dip in imports for January and February. To minimize the illness’ blow to the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve last week declared an emergency 0.5% cut in its key lending rate. The cut, which lowers the rate to the range of 1% to 1.25%, is the first of its kind since the 2008 financial crisis.
Hundreds of companies have updated their risk disclosures, advising employees to take safety precautions, such as working remotely from home or imposing a self-quarantine if they have recently traveled to any of the affected regions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, those with low-risk exposure are not restricted from public places as long as they are asymptomatic.
