Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday morning, following news early on Friday that President Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus.
By the numbers: The S&P 500 fell 1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 400 points (or 1.6%), while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5%. The declines
The big picture: Asian stocks were also fell — including in Japan, which closed down 0.8% after the announcement, despite spending much of the day trading up, per the New York Times.
- European stocks also opened over 1% lower in early trading.
What they're saying: "Markets hate uncertainty and this ticks all those boxes," said Asia Pacific with Oanda Corp. senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley, told Bloomberg.
- "Not because of the President alone, but because this potentially means it has spread to the upper-level echelons of the government in the U.S."