Stocks opened with steep losses Friday after President Trump announced that he and Melania Trump tested positive for the coronavirus and the U.S. added fewer jobs in September than expected.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened Friday with a loss of roughly 400 points, falling 1.4 percent. The S&P 500 index fell 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite fell 2 percent.
Stock futures fell sharply overnight after Trump and the White House announced at 1 a.m. Friday that the president and first lady contracted the coronavirus. The Trumps’ positive test results came after news of top White House aide Hope Hicks contracting the virus broke Thursday night.
Presidential physician Sean Conley said in a memo released by the White House late Thursday night that President Trump and the first lady “are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence.”
A spokesman for Vice President Pence said both he and second lady Karen Pence tested negative this morning. A spokeswoman for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he also tested negative for the coronavirus on Friday.
Investors are also processing a September jobs report that came in well below economists’ expectations. The U.S. added 661,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department, well below economists’ predictions of a gain of roughly 800,000 jobs.