Coronavirus impact: Microsoft and madness in the markets
The fallout from lockdown in a country which generates two thirds of its gross domestic product from consumer spending has been laid out plainly: the US economy contracted nearly 5% in the first quarter as purchasing plummeted 7%. The second quarter – when the coronavirus pandemic truly took hold in the US – is expected to be far worse. Experts are warning that the economy could shrink by as much as 30%.
Those stark statistics are somewhat at odds with the stock market which has risen 20% in the last month and is now only 13% off its January highs. Even as confirmed US cases of coronavirus soar above the 1m mark, investors are looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. Donald Trump has been only too happy to oblige: “the fourth quarter is going to be fantastic”, he said cheerily in a press conference after the announcement of the worst contraction in the US economy in nearly 100 years. A glimmer of hope has been provided by Gilead,…