/Coronavirus economic updates: Futures on US financial markets point to opening spike

Coronavirus economic updates: Futures on US financial markets point to opening spike

The health crisis has quickly turned into an economic one.

The coronavirus pandemic has quickly evolved from a health crisis to a financial one, shuttering businesses, upending entire industries and sending financial markets reeling.

Here’s the latest news on how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting the economy. For more on financial resources available during the pandemic, click here.

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Futures on US financial markets point to opening spike

Futures on U.S. financial markets pointed to an opening surge Monday morning.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up more than 700 points, or 3.4%. Futures on the S&P 500 were up 3.5%.

The rally comes as investors welcomed some signs over the weekend that the COVID-19 outbreak was nearing its peak in certain parts of the U.S.

In New York, the number of deaths in the state dropped from the previous day and Gov. Andrew Cuomo suggested the state could be “near the apex” of the crisis.

“We’re looking at this seriously now because by the data we could be very near the apex or the apex could be a plateau and we could be beyond that plateau right now,” Cuomo said at a news conference Sunday. “We won’t know until we see the next few days, does it go up or does go down, that’s what the statisticians will tell you today.”

Cuomo also said the total number of hospitalizations in the past 24 hours fell to 574 from a high of 1,412 just five days ago.

He said the downward trend was “partially a function of more people being discharged,” and that 75% of the people who have gone into the hospital system have recovered and have been discharged.

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