Inventories ended in decline on Monday, with Wall Street’s optimism about the launch of coronavirus vaccines was thwarted by an increase in infections and fears of stricter restrictions and blockages.
Also drawing the attention of Wall Street to the second round of elections in Georgia, Tuesday, which will define the balance of the Senate and the legislative agenda of President-elect Joe Biden.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 382 points, or 1.25%, to 30,223, the S&P 500 fell 1.48% and the Nasdaq fell 1.47%. The Dow and S&P 500 set intraday records shortly after markets opened on Monday.
At one point in Monday’s trading, the Dow 30 fell by 2.4%. The Nasdaq Composite fell by 2.7%.
The decline of the Dow on Monday was led by Boeing (BA) – Get report, which fell 5.25% after an analyst downgrade.
The stock closed higher on Thursday, the last trading day of 2020, with the Dow and S&P 500 setting records as a volatile year, brutally interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Dow blue-chip rose 7.3% in 2020, the S&P 500 gained 16.3% – in its bearish pandemic in March, the index had dropped more than 30% – and the high-tech Nasdaq jumped 43.6% , its best annual performance since 2009.
Traders are “perhaps a little anxious” but say vaccines “will provide the ultimate economic boost, offering a massive boost to corporate profits,” said Stephen Innes of Axi.
Coronavirus deaths in the United States reached 352,645 and infections in the country jumped to about 20.74 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. Globally, more than 85.5 million people have contracted the virus.
The end of 2020 approval of a $ 2.3 trillion spending account, which included nearly $ 1 trillion for coronavirus relief, sustained domestic stocks ahead of the two runoff elections in Georgia.
The importance of this vote, which attracted nearly $ 500 million in advertising spending and a record 3 million votes in the mail, was emphasized on Sunday by the launch of a phone call. On that call, President Donald Trump tried to pressure Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, to find the votes needed to overturn the results of the November presidential election.
Tesla (TSLA) – Get report rose 3.4% on Monday after the electric vehicle company said over the weekend that it had reached its 2020 goal of producing at least half a million cars, but narrowly missed its aggressive delivery target after a year record fueled by Chinese demand for its model 3 sedan.
Magellan Health (MGLN) – Get report ended with a high of 13% after agreeing to be acquired by Centene (CNC) – Get report for $ 95 per share in cash. The business value of the business is $ 2.2 billion.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell by up to 20% on Monday, after reaching $ 34,000 on Sunday. Bitcoin reached $ 30,000 for the first time in its history the day before.