(Reuters) – Wall Street ‘s key indices fell on Monday, as more brutal pressure from the coronavirus in Britain sparked fears of new catastrophes and measured investors’ expectations of a vaccine – led economic reversal.
The strain, which is said to be up to 70% more mobile than the original ones, has forced many countries to close their borders with the United Kingdom.
All 11 major S&P subdivisions fell, with energy shares declining as crude prices fell on concerns about declining fuel demand. Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Occidental Petroleum Corp fell between 2% and 5% in early trading. [O/R]
Travel-related stocks fell, among the hardest hit by the constraints with a pandemic. The S&P 1500 airline index slipped 3%, even as carriers were ready to receive $ 15 billion in new payment support as part of a new coronavirus stimulus package.
Tourists traveling Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, Carnival Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd skipped between 3.8% and 4.5%.
“The steps required to assess the potential harm of a new strain of COVID-19 will undoubtedly pose an additional risk to markets, which were expected to return smoothly to normal life after distribution of the vaccine, ”said James McDonald, CEO and chief investment officer of Hercules Investments in Los Angeles.
The CBOE Movement Index, also known as Wall Street’s “fear criterion,” jumped to its highest level since early November and was last at 28.38 points.
At 10:20 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 389.55 points, or 1.29%, at 29,789.50, the S&P 500 was down 69.13 points, or 1.86%, at 3,640.28, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 224.62 points, or 1.76%, at 12,531.02.
U.S. transportation leaders were ready to vote on a $ 900 billion relief package to provide new support to the virus-affected economy. Hopes on the bill helped Wall Street indices get higher levels last week.
S&P’s finance division posted the smallest decline, aided by gains in Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Inc, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Shares rose between 0.4% and 5.3% after the Federal Reserve allowed major lenders to pay up shares and buy back stock on a limited basis following a pressure test.
Nike Inc jumped 5.4% after a multi-price target rise after the athletic apparel manufacturer lifted its full-year revenue forecast.
Electric car maker Tesla Inc, which has risen more than 690% so far this year, slipped 5.3% in its first record on the S&P 500 index.
Lockheed Martin Corp fell 2.2% after U.S. rocket engine buyer Aerojet agreed to buy Rocketdyne Holdings Inc for $ 4.4 billion. Shares of Aerojet climbed 22%.
Planemaker Boeing Co slipped 2.2% on a report from the U.S. Senate that company officials were “improperly coaching” test pilots during retaliation efforts.
Cases are declining higher than the promoters for the 4.97-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and for the 2.98-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and no new highs, while the Nasdaq recorded 78 new highs and 14 new lows.
Reporting with Devik Jain and Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Edited by Anil D’Silva and Sriraj Kalluvila