Stocks decline but post weekly gain

U.S. stocks fell for the third time this week on Friday due to coronavirus fears but two strong rallies earlier in the week put the major indices in the plus column for the week.

Conway G.

Gittens reports.

Global stocks toppled once again Friday as the number of coronavirus infections topped 100,000 worldwide, adding to fears any economic fallout will get worse.

Markets ended well above the lows of the day.

The Dow lost 256 points.

The S&P 500 shed 51.

The Nasdaq was down 162.

Despite some staggering falls this week - stocks actually had an up week.

But that doesn't mean investors aren't still afraid of the economic damage being caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Paul Kleinschmidt is a portfolio manager at Tocqueville Asset Management SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): PAUL KLEINSCHMIDT, PORTFOLIO MANAGER, TOCQUEVILLE ASSET MANAGEMENT, SAYING: "The coronavirus fears are both expressing uncertainty in supply and in demand, which is unusual, usually it is one of the two but between supply chains and between what's happening in major cities, I think people are having a very difficult time discounting what the future is going to look like." And in another sign Wall Street is fixated on the possibility the coronavirus outbreak could lead to an economic recession - investors flocked to the perceived safety of gold and U.S. government debt.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year note touched another new low.

This time breaking below 0.7 percent for the first time ever.

Worries about the economic damage being caused by the coronavirus eclipsed a report showing robust hiring in the U.S. Employers created 273,000 new jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell back down to a near 50-year low of 3-1/2 percent.

But the statistics were compiled before the coronavirus began to spread in the U.S. in late-February, which could change the employment picture going forward.

For example, United Airlines and JetBlue recently announced hiring freezes.

Airlines are seeing a drop in bookings and a jump in cancellations with the coronavirus outbreak causing some travelers to stay home.

Oil prices had their biggest percentage drop since the financial crisis as OPEC and Russia failed to reach an agreement to cut production.