Philly Fed manufacturing index plunges in April

The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index in April dropped to -56.6 after registering -12.5 in March. This is the lowest reading since July 1980.

Any reading below zero indicates deteriorating conditions. Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a -37.5 reading.

What happened: The headline index is based on a single stand alone question about business conditions unlike the manufacturing index which is a composite based on components
The components were also weak. The new orders index fell to -70.9 in April from -15.5 in the prior month. The employment index dropped to -46.7 from 4.1 in March. Firms do expect things to get better in six months as the index for future activity rose 8 points to 43.

Big picture: The plunge in the Philly Fed comes after a record plunge in the New York Empire State index. Economists think the national ISM factory index will also be weak ax the manufacturing sector is hit by the shutdown.