Mohamed A. El-Erian , Columnist

Trump Illness Exposes Underlying Market Tension

The economic data were already spreading uncertainty. Then came Friday.

October 4, 2020 at 9:00 PM UTC

Mohamed A. El-Erian is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief executive officer of Pimco, he is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge; chief economic adviser at Allianz SE; and chair of Gramercy Fund Management. He is author of “The Only Game in Town.”

Uncertainty spreader.
Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg

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Losses in the main U.S. stock indexes on Friday will go down in history simply as small ones in an otherwise choppy week. But assessed in more detail, they provide a remarkable example of the intense tug-of-war that now grips markets and will most likely persist, if not intensify, in the weeks ahead.

Two news developments dominated the run-up to the U.S. market open on Friday.