The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has just finished the week with a sizeable decline after it emerged that Donald Trump and his wife Melania have tested positive for COVID-19.
The ASX 200 ended the day 1.45% lower at 5,787.4 points.
What happened?
Earlier in the day the U.S. President revealed on Twitter that one of his closest advisers, Hope Hicks, had tested positive for COVID-19.
Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for Covid 19. Terrible! The First Lady and I are waiting for our test results. In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
This led to both President Trump and the First Lady having tests of their own.
Within a couple of hours, the President updated the world via his Twitter feed that both he and the First Lady had tested positive and would be quarantining immediately.
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020
Given that the U.S. election is just on the horizon, this news has created a significant amount of uncertainty – something which we all know markets hate.
Unsurprisingly, this led to futures contracts on Wall Street falling heavily this afternoon, which in turn sent Australian investors to the exits in a panic.
At the time of writing, futures contracts are pointing to the Dow Jones dropping 1.7% and the Nasdaq index falling 2% at Friday's open.
What now?
According to CNBC, White House physician Sean Conley expects the President to continue working from quarantine at the White House.
He said in a memo: "The President and First Lady are both well at this time, and they plan to remain at home within the White House during their convalescence." Mr Conley added that Trump will "continue carrying out his duties without disruption while recovering."
Though, one thing the President may miss is the next presidential debate. He is currently scheduled to go head to head again with Democratic rival Joe Biden on October 15.
