World News – CA – US stocks tumble on worst day of the month amid virus problems

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NEW YORK – Stocks drop sharply in midday trading on Wall Street on Monday, worsening losses from last week, as disturbing rise in coronavirus numbers threatens the global economy

The S&P 500 was 21% lower and on track for its worst day in more than a month The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 717 points, or 25%, to 27618, at 11:18 am Hour East, and the Nasdaq composite was down 17%

Equities also weakened in much of Europe and Asia Another sign of caution, Treasury yields fell after hitting their highest level since June last week

Coronavirus numbers soar across much of the United States and Europe, raising concerns of further damage to a still weakened economy The US has come very close to establishing daily infection rates consecutive records Friday and Saturday In Europe, the Spanish government declared a national state of emergency on Sunday which includes an overnight curfew, while Italy has ordered restaurants and bars to close at 6 p.m. every daym and close gyms, swimming pools and cinemas

Hopes are fading, meanwhile, that Washington will be able to provide additional support to the economy anytime soon House of Commons Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke to several repeated last week over a potential deal to send money to most Americans, restart additional benefits for laid-off workers, and provide assistance to schools, among other things

But a deep partisan difference remains on Capitol Hill, and time is running out for anything to happen before election day in November 3 Any compromise reached between the House Democrats and the White House would also face fierce resistance from Republicans who control the Senate

Concerns over diminishing near-term stimulus prospects helped push the S&P 500 down to 05% last week, its first weekly loss in the past four

« As we see nations attempting to quell the spread of the virus with more localized and temporary restrictions, it seems very likely that we will end up seeing a series of nationwide lockdowns if the trajectory cannot be reversed, ”said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG in London

« Traders remain torn as they assess the imminent potential benefits of a potential US stimulus and vaccine program, » he added

The US economy has rebounded somewhat since stay-at-home restrictions that swept the country earlier this year eased, and economists expect a report Thursday shows it grew at an annual rate of 302% in the summer quarter after cutting 314% in the second quarter

But momentum has slowed recently after the expiration of a previous round of supplementary unemployment benefits and other stimulus packages approved by Congress earlier this year

Stocks of companies that need the virus to subside and the economy to return to normal record some of the biggest losses in morning trading

Energy stocks fell to the biggest loss among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500, falling in concert with oil prices Almost 99% of stocks in the index were lower

Among the few market winners in the early exchanges were companies capable of succeeding even in a home economy Zoom Video Communications gained 31%

Amazon rose 01% for what was actually one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500, while Apple lost an early gain to fall to 06% Expectations are high for them, and Analysts say they will release strong results for their final quarter this week They and other big tech stocks have skyrocketed through the pandemic in hopes that growth will only continue as work to home and other trends that benefit them are accelerating

This coming week is the busiest of this quarter’s earnings season, with more than a third of companies in the S&P 500 index due to publish Besides Amazon and Apple, Ford Motor, General Electric and the parent company from Google, Alphabet, are also on the program

Across the S&P 500, the summer earnings reports were mostly better than Wall Street feared, although they are still on the verge of being over 16% below last year’s levels As of Friday, 84% of S&P 500 companies have reported better results than analysts expected, FactSet says If this level is maintained it would be the best since at least 2008, when FactSet registrations start

On European stock markets, the German DAX fell 33%, and France’s CAC 40 fell 16% The FTSE 100 in London slipped 07%

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 01%, South Korea’s Kospi fell 07%, and Shanghai stocks fell 08%

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