INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
President Donald Trump national emergency declaration, which began just a half hour before the market closed, pushed stocks higher Friday,
providing at least temporary relief to shares that have been throttled this week on fears of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump detailed several
measures under the national emergency declaration, including freeing up federal resources that states can access as they respond to the
novel coronavirus outbreak
COVID-19 is a disease caused by a new virus that is a member of the coronavirus family and a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that
have caused outbreaks in the past
The spread of the disease has prompted governments and companies to cancel tech, business and automotive events around the world.
All major
indices and bitcoin were up earlier today on speculation that the Trump administration would declare a national emergency
The Dow Jones Industrial Average had jumped by 1,200 earlier in the day, but fell some 500 points by the afternoon.
The market roared back
in the final moments before close as Trump, along with other health officials and the CEOs of private companies, including Target,
Walgreens, Walmart and CVS, outlined plans under the emergency declaration.
In spite of the bump, stock markets sustained one of their
worst weeks in recent history
Stocks yesterday recorded their worst day in over 30 years.
At the close, markets were up:
The Dow Jones was up 1,980, or 9.4%, to 23,182 at
the close
The Nasdaq was up 673 points, or 9.35%, to 7,874.23 at the close
The S-P 500 was up 230 points, or 9.2%, to 2,711.02at the
close
Shares rise
Companies that were mentioned during the president address saw shares rise in line with the major indices, and in some
cases out-pacing them.
During his address in the Rose Garden at the White House, Trump praised the work being done by corporations like
Roche, which has developed a diagnostic tool that can more quickly identify infections
Roche shares rose 13% to close at $40.30.
Shares of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, also spiked more than 9% to close at
Trump announced during his address that Google will bebringing a new pre-screening website onlinethat anyone can access to check their
symptoms and be directed to testing locations around the country.
Shares of Walmart, Target, CVS and Walgreens were all higher
The companies are partnering with the federal government plan to open drive-thru testing sites for COVID-19
Walmart shares closed 9.66% higher, at $114.10; Target shares closed more than 9% higher, at $101.02; and Walgreens was up 12.6%, to close
