Stock market live Friday: Dow down 350, worst jobs report in a decade, oil’s best week

An abysmal March jobs report gives a glimpse of the devastating economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Another surge in oil prices on expected output cuts limited the losses in the stock market. Major equity averages suffered their third week of losses in four as the coronavirus crisis deepened. Here’s what happened:

• Dow closed down 1.69% for its third negative day in four
• Week to date: Dow closed down 2.7% for its third negative week in four
• Year to date: Dow is down 26.23%, on pace for its worst year since 2008 when the Dow lost 33.64%
• Dow is 28.8% below its intraday all-time high of 29,568.57 from Feb. 12
• S&P closed down 1.51% for its third negative day in four
• Week to date: S&P closed down 2.08% for its third negative week in four
• Year to date: S&P is down 22.97%, on pace for its worst year since 2008 when the S&P lost 38.49%
• S&P is 26.66% below its intraday all-time high of 3,393.52 from Feb.19
• NASDAQ closed down 1.53% for its third negative day in four
• Week to date: NASDAQ is down 1.72% for its third negative week in four
• Year to date: NASDAQ is down 17.83%, on pace for its worst year since 2008 when the NASDAQ lost 40.54% 
• NASDAQ is 25.1% from its intraday all-time high of 9,838.37 from Feb. 19 — ^Francolla

President Donald Trump said that the U.S. will “get our energy business back,” as he met with oil executives from at least seven companies amid the ongoing collapse in oil prices. “We’ll work this out and we’ll get our energy business back. I’m with you 1,000%. It’s a great business, it’s a very vital business,” he said. Trump added that he’s “looking very seriously” at an infrastructure package.The meeting included CEOs from Exxon, Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy, Phillips 66, Energy Transfer Partners and former Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm. Trump again reiterated that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin want to make a deal on oil production. — Stevens

The 30-stock Dow ended the wild session off about 350 points after falling 550 points at its low of the day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dipped 1.5% each on Friday. All three major averages posted their third week of losses in four as the coronavirus crisis deepened. — Li

The Federal Reserve will reduce its purchases of Treasurys and mortgage backed securities next week. The central bank will purchase about $50 billion of Treasury bonds per day, down from $75 billion this week. The mortgage purchases are decreasing from $40 billion to $25 billion. The yield on the 10 year Treasury has climbed in afternoon trading and is now about 0.61%, slightly below Thursday’s final price. — Pound

Walmart‘s stock turned higher, last trading up 0.12%, after the Wall Street Journal reported the retailer experienced a surge in store sales amid coronavirus crisis. The sales from Walmart’s 4,700 stores in the U.S. increased nearly 20% over the past four weeks compared with the same period last year, according to documents viewed by the Journal. — Li

Michael Farr, CEO of Farr, Miller and Washington, told CNBC investors need to refrain from making “emotional decisions” despite persistent market volatility. “Expect something worse than your bad-case scenario,” Farr advised on “Power Lunch.” “Expect stocks to fall another 10 or 20% from what your low is now. Expect this to last longer, that way you won’t be shocked and surprised and you’ll say, ‘All right I can think of a way of getting through that.'” By not panicking and keeping a long-term view, Farr said investors will be able to take advantage of the high-quality names on sale. – Stankiewicz

• WTI (MAY) settled up 11.93% at $28.34 a barrel
• WTI closed up 31.75% this week for its best week on record (back to contract inception in 1983)
• Still, WTI is down 53.59% this year, on pace for its worst year ever back to inception of the contract 1983— Francolla

With roughly one hour left in the trading session, the major averages were on pace to post their third weekly decline in four. The Dow was down more than 400 points, or 2.1%, for the session while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also fell more than 2%. For the week, the Dow was down over 3%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were headed for weekly losses of 2.7% and 2.4%, respectively —Imbert

More than six stocks fell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday for every advancer on Friday as the market sold off to end another volatile week. Overall, more than 2,500 stocks traded lower while about 370 rose, FactSet data shows. —Imbert

Droves of layoffs at restaurants and bars made March 2020 one of the worst months for U.S. employment in the modern era with the Labor Department reporting that payrolls plunged by 701,000 in the month. Businesses that prepare meals, snacks and beverages for customers for either on-premise (sit-down restaurants and bars) or off-premise (delivery and take-out) consumption saw payrolls slide by 417,000. The broader leisure and hospitality sector, which includes that 417,000 decline in the food services industry, saw payrolls decline by 459,000 as hotels and other lodging businesses also cut jobs. This employment decline nearly offset gains accrued in the industry over the previous two years. — Franck

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that joint action is needed to prop up falling oil prices, and that a production cut of 10 million barrels per day is possible if global players participate, according to a report from Reuters. OPEC and its allies, which include Russia, are set to hold a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss oil policy. Later today President Donald Trump will meet with at least seven energy executives at the White House, including the CEOs of Chevron and Exxon. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude traded 6.8% higher at $27.05 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude advanced 9.5% to $32.75. Putin’s comments come one day after Trump told CNBC on Thursday that he expected Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to announce a deal to cut oil production by 10 million to 15 million barrels. — Stevens

The coronavirus pandemic has created a financial crisis “like no other,” the top International Monetary Fund official said Friday. “Never in the history of the IMF have we witnessed the world economy come to a standstill,” said Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF. “It is way worse than the global financial crisis” of 2008-09, Georgieva said during a World Health Organization press conference. —Dan Mangan

• Home Construction ETF (ITB) is down 16% week to date, on pace for its third negative week in four and down over 42% this year.
• Laggards among homebuilders this week include Taylor Morrison Home, PulteGroup and TopBuild, all of which dropped more than 20%.
• Banks ETF (KBE) is down over 10% this week, on pace for its sixth negative week in seven.
• MGIC Investment (MTG) and Radian Group are down more than 30% each this week.
• Retail ETF (XRT) is down almost 10% this week, on pace for its fifth negative week in six. — Francolla

Around midday, the major averages were down sharply as investors digested a massive spike in conronavirus related deaths in New York and a dismal jobs report. The Dow was down more than 300 points, or 1.6%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were also down more than 1%. Friday’s decline put the averages on pace for their third weekly losses in four. — Imbert

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that 2,935 New Yorkers died from the coronavirus over the last 24-hours, the highest single increase in deaths since the outbreak began a few weeks ago. “The curve continues to go up,” Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany, referring to the number of new COVID-19 cases across the state. There are 102,863 confirmed cases across the state, a 10% jump overnight, according to charts presented at the press conference. New York city alone accounts for 57,159 total cases, up 5,350 over the last 24 hours. – Noah Higgins-Dunn

Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius said on “Squawk on the Street” that Friday morning’s job report was “stale” and that the unemployment rate will more than triple as the coronavirus crisis continues.
 “We think that over the next few months we’ll go to a 15% unemployment rate, and I think the claims numbers are consistent with that, assuming we’ll some further numbers in the millions in the coming weeks,” Hatzius said.

Goldman also projected second quarter GDP at an annualized growth rate of -34% relative to the same quarter last year. “We think April is going to be the worst month. We have that down about 13% from January … and after April we have a slow recovery in the level of output built into the forecast,” Hatzius said.
Even with a recovery, Hatzius said unemployment will still be more than double Friday’s reading through the end of the year. “8% by the end of the year, that’s more optimistic than what we have. But we do think that in the second half we will see declines in unemployment … but from an extremely high level. We end the year in our forecast at 9.5%, but obviously there’s a lot of uncertainty,” Hatzius said. — Pound

A flurry of activity to support market functioning and the economy has taken the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet to nearly $6 trillion. The central bank’s latest filing shows its holdings have increased to $5.86 trillion, up $557 million or 10.5% just over the past week. Purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities are feeding the growth, as well as the Fed’s accelerated currency swaps with other central banks around the world. The swaps alone have added nearly $300 billion just over the past two weeks. Economists think that by the time the Fed tapers back its purchases, the balance sheet could approach $10 trillion. – Cox

• Goldman Sachs upgraded Twitter to buy from neutral.
• Rosenblatt initiated Peloton as buy.
• B. Riley FBR upgraded Lululemon and Abercrombie & Fitch to buy from neutral, and upgraded Under Armour to neutral from sell.
• Credit Suisse downgraded Shake Shack to neutral from overweight.
• RBC downgraded Ralph Lauren to sector perform from outperform.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to hold from sell. — Bloom

• Nordstrom dropped 7%, trading at lows not seen since Mar, 2009
• Kohl’s fell 7%, trading at lows not seen since Apr, 1997
• People’s United Financial dipped 2.4%, trading at lows not seen since Aug, 2004 —Hayes

In morning trading, stocks extended their losses with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 300 points or 1.4%. The S&P 500 lost 1.1% and the Nasdaq fell 0.95%.  — Fitzgerald 

As if the March nonfarm payrolls drop of 701,000 wasn’t bad enough, a separate count shows the decline in jobs may have been even worse. The Labor Department’s household survey, which is used to calculate the unemployment rate, showed a drop of nearly 3 million among the ranks of the employed. That figure only captures activity in the week ending March 12 but points to even greater damage to come. – Cox

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 100 points at the open. Investors digested the March jobs report that showed the first decline in nonfarm payrolls since 2010. The report captured the layoffs before the widespread shutdowns went into effect. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dipped 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. A jump in oil prices provided the market with some support. — Li

• WTI is up almost 31% this week, on pace for its best week on record (back to contract inception in 1983)
• This stat will hold true as long as WTI closes up more than 28.4% or it will be its best week since Aug 8, 1986
• WTI is still down 54.42% this year  — Francolla

U.S. payrolls fell by 701,000 in March, according to the Labor Department. This report is the first decline in jobs since 2010 and the worst print since 2009. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% from 3.5% as employers just began to cut payrolls ahead of social distancing practices that shut down large swaths of the U.S. economy in order to stop the virus’s spread. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a payroll decline of 10,000 and for the unemployment rate to rise to 3.7%. Stock futures extended their losses following the report. — Cox, Fitzgerald 

Oil prices rose on Friday on the hope that a production cut deal will soon be reached after OPEC and its allies announced they will meet on Monday to discuss oil policy, and after Reuters reported that Russian producers are ready for cuts in a bid to stop the price rout. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude jumped 6.8% to trade at $27.03 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent rose 12.7% to trade at $33.72. On Thursday WTI and Brent posted their best day on record after President Donald Trump told CNBC that he expected Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to announce a deal to cut oil production by 10 million to 15 million barrels, although the exact details of the cut remained unclear.

Despite Thursday’s surge, WTI has shed 42% over the last month as demand fell off a cliff, with more and more people staying home thanks to the coronavirus outbreak. Meantime a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia broke out at the beginning of March, which also weighed on prices. On Friday Trump will meet with CEOs from at least seven energy companies – including Exxon and Chevron – to discuss energy policy. – Stevens

The Labor Department’s jobs report for the month of March, set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show that U.S. nonfarm payrolls dropped 100,000. But the government’s survey for the report was conducted before many states began ordering residents to stay home, meaning that the March report will likely understate the current pace of job losses as observed in Thursday’s unemployment claims numbers. That report showed a record 6.6 million Americans filed for benefits in the week ended March 28. Still, if Friday’s report meets economists’ expectations by showing a decline of 100,000 payrolls, it will be the first time the monthly jobs report has posted a decline that large since February 2011. —Franck

The fast-spreading coronavirus has infected more than 1 million people globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 53,000 people have lost their lives to the deadly virus. The top five countries for infections are the United States, Spain, Italy, Germany and China. U.K. Health Minister Matt Hancock reportedly said on Friday that the deadliest peak of Britain’s coronavirus outbreak could be on Easter Sunday. The amount of people that have died from the coronavirus in Spain has seen its first daily fall since March 26, however. Domestically, the White House is monitoring coronavirus hot spots New York and New Jersey. Some 35% of all coronavirus tests administered in New York and New Jersey have been positive, indicating a serious outbreak in both states, White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Deborah Birx said Thursday. —Fitzgerald

Shares of Tesla soared more than 16% in premarket trading on Friday on better-than-expected delivery numbers. The electric carmaker delivered approximately 88,400 vehicles in the first quarter of 2020, beating expectations of about 79,900, according to FactSet. In a conference call, CEO Elon Musk and CFO Zachary Kirkhorn said Tesla should “comfortably exceed” sales of 500,000 electric vehicles in 2020. –Li

Wall Street was set to give back some of the sharp gains from the previous session as investors awaited the release of the latest monthly jobs data. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded 174 points lower, or 0.8%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.7% each. Those losses came after the Dow and S&P 500 both gained more than 2% on Thursday. The March jobs report is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. —Imbert

—With reporting from Jesse Pound, Tom Franck, Jeff Cox, Michael Bloom, Chris Hayes, Kevin Stankiewicz, Pippa Stevens and Gina Francolla.

Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world.