Stocks fall on Wall Street as coronavirus spreads in Europe
Wall Street has turned cautious this week amid a confluence of worrisome trends for the economy, which is still hampered by the pandemic.
Wall Street has turned cautious this week amid a confluence of worrisome trends for the economy, which is still hampered by the pandemic.
Big Tech stocks, including Apple and Microsoft, powered much of the gains. Their businesses have proven to be practically impervious to the pandemic, unlike companies that would benefit from a strengthening economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 375.88 points, or 1.3%, to 27,772.76. It had been up by more than 200 points before Trump’s announcement.
Wall Street rallied Monday as hopes for economic aid from Washington, D.C., helped it recover all of its knee-jerk losses after learning President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus.
Big swings have become typical recently, as investors handicap the chances of a deal on Capitol Hill to send more cash to Americans, restore jobless benefits for laid-off workers and deliver assistance to airlines and other industries.
The settlement, the largest ever imposed for this type of fraudulent activity, known as spoofing, resolves investigations by the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Big Tech stocks did the heaviest lifting. And several companies announced big mergers and acquisitions, which helped to push markets higher.
The S&P 500 came within striking distance of a 10% drop from its all-time high earlier this week, what Wall Street calls a correction. Friday’s gains reflect, in part, traders taking advantage of the selling to snap up stocks at lower prices.
The selling, which accelerated in the afternoon, was widespread, though technology stocks accounted for the biggest losses. The decline deepens the benchmark index’s September slide to 7.5% after a five-month rally.
Tuesday’s market rebound has been the exception this month. Wall Street has suddenly lost momentum in September following months of powerful gains that returned the S&P 500 to a record.
Wall Street has been shaky this month, and the S&P 500 has dropped 8.4% since hitting a record Sept. 2 amid a long list of worries for investors.
The financial sector was hit hard Monday following a report alleging that a number of banks have continued to profit from illicit dealings with disreputable people and criminal networks
The selling was widespread, with eight of the 11 sectors that make up the benchmark index ending the day lower. The sectors that include Amazon, Facebook and Apple took the heaviest losses.
AstraZeneca added 0.5% following news over the weekend that clinical trials for the pharmaceutical company’s coronavirus vaccine will resume after being paused due to a reported side-effect in a patient
Technology shares led the rebound, just as they led the three-day sell-off that slashed 10% off the Nasdaq, dragging the tech-centric index into correction territory.
Even though the S&P 500 is near a record high, just 15 of 55 Indiana public companies tracked by IBJ are up for the year.
Wall Street kicked off September with another set of milestones Tuesday, as an afternoon rally carried the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite to all-time highs.
The Dow Jones industrial average clawed its way back to a tiny gain for the year, the first time the Dow has been up for 2020 since late February.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which tracks 30 large, publicly traded companies, is replacing three of the stocks.
The S&P 500 rallied 34.12, or 1%, to 3,431.28 and added to the all-time high it set last week, when it erased the last of its losses from the coronavirus pandemic.