Stocks Tumble as Surge in Virus Cases Imperils Recovery: [View all]

[elleng]

Wall Street slides as virus cases rise and Washington gridlock worsens.

Stocks on Wall Street slid for the fourth straight session on Monday, after a steep drop in global markets that was fueled by the rising prospect of tighter economic restrictions to control the surge in coronavirus infections.

The S&P 500 fell more than 2 percent. Shares in Europe were also sharply lower, with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 down more than 3 percent.

Investors had already been losing confidence in Washington’s ability to deliver another deal to support the hobbling U.S. economy, and the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was seen as making that deal even less likely.

“From a purely political perspective, what already promised to be one of if not the craziest, and most politically charged election cycles of our lifetimes only heated up more,” analysts from Bespoke Investment Research wrote in a morning note to clients.

Shares of companies that are sensitive to the pandemic and the return of restrictions on travel in particular fared poorly on Monday. Delta Air Lines fell more than 8 percent, for example.

Energy, materials and industrial shares also tumbled, suggesting growing investor doubts about the outlook for the global economic recovery. Oil prices dropped more than 4 percent.

Sectors of the market relatively immune to the ups and downs of the business cycle, such as consumer staples, utilities and some large-cap technology companies fared better.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/09/21/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus?

S&P 500
-2.58%
Dow
-3.29%
Nasdaq
-2.08%