| USA TODAY
President Donald Trump, first lady test positive for coronavirus
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 and “will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately.”
U.S. stocks were poised to open sharply lower Friday after President Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus.
Dow futures dropped 401 points while futures for the S&P 500 sank 1.6%.
Trump tweeted news of his test results just hours after the White House announced that senior aide Hope Hicks had come down with the virus after traveling with the president several times this week.
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A statement issued by Trump’s doctor saying both he and his wife were well and that he would continue his duties appeared to calm the markets’ reaction after Dow futures initially tumbled more than 500 points overnight on the news.
“Initial market reactions to the news that President Trump tested positive for COVID19 are as expected-negative,” Jamie Cox, managing partner at financial advisor Harris Financial Group, said in a note. “However, markets could have some unexpected reactions as this could break the log jam in current stimulus negotiations.”
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The positive test reading for the leader of the world’s largest economy heaps uncertainty onto a growing pile of unknowns investors are grappling with, first among them how it might affect the Nov. 3 election and American policies on trade, tariffs and many other issues beyond then.
Investors will get a fresh reading on the labor market recovery when the September jobs report is released at 8:30 a.m. ET, the final report ahead of the election. Economists expect Labor to announce the U.S. added about 850,000 jobs in September, down from 1.4 million the previous month.
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Contributing: The Associated Press
