Stocks sink as virus cases jump, forcing states to backtrack

Stocks on Wall Street fell sharply Friday as confirmed new coronavirus infections in the U.S. hit an all-time high, prompting Texas and Florida to reverse course on the reopening of businesses.

The combination injected new jitters into a market that’s been mostly riding high since April on hopes that the economy will recover from a deep recession as businesses open doors.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.4%, giving up all of its gains after a rally the day before. The sell-off capped a choppy week of trading that erased the benchmark index’s gains for the month. Even so, the S&P 500 is still on pace for its best quarter since 1998.

The surge in the number of confirmed new coronavirus cases prompted Texas and Florida to reverse course and clamp down on bars again.

The S&P 500 fell 74.71 points to 3,009.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst day in two weeks, losing 730.05 points, or 2.8%, to 25,015.55. The Nasdaq, which hit an all-time high earlier this week, dropped 259.78 points, or 2.6%, to 9,757.22.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3dAhrkn