US Stocks End Lower After Volatile Week

Wall Street stocks fell on Friday to conclude a volatile week as markets weighed worries about rising coronavirus cases and a surprise US government move to end some emergency lending programmes.

The Dow Jones ended down 0.8 percent at 29,263.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.7 percent at 3,557, while the Nasdaq declined 0.4 percent to 11,854.

US pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said on Friday they have applied for emergency use authorisation for their coronavirus vaccine, which could come next month.

The announcement comes as US virus case totals continue to rise, with an average of 167,400 cases per day this week, and states impose fresh restrictions to slow the outbreak.

Some analysts questioned a decision by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to phase out a series of Federal Reserve programmes enacted in the spring to support the corporate credit market, municipal lending and small and medium-sized businesses.

Mnuchin said he was following congressional intent in phasing out at year's end the Fed programmes, which were intended to help the US financial system weather the shock of the pandemic.

He said the funds unused by the central bank should be repurposed to other pandemic relief efforts.

But the Fed criticised the move in a rare public break with Treasury, and congressional Democrats accused Mnuchin of trying to sabotage the incoming administration of Joe Biden.

Ending the programmes poses a "risk" for the economy, said a note from Oxford Economics.

"The emergency lending facilities have been little used, but their existence has been key in ensuring a credible safeguard against financial market stress," Oxford said.

"With the Covid-19 crisis worsening and activity slowing in the absence of fiscal aid, the decision to curtail the Fed's firepower could unsettle markets and exacerbate economic stress." (AFP)