US close: Stocks sharply lower as Covid cases rise further
Wall Street stocks closed in the red on Wednesday as new Covid-19 cases continued to rise across the US.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.43% at 26,519.95, the S&P 500 lost 3.53% to 3,271.03, and the Nasdaq Composite was 3.73% weaker at 11,004.87.
The Dow closed 943.24 points lower on Wednesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session as an ever-increasing number of new Covid-19 cases continued to weigh on sentiment.
In focus on Wednesday, news that the number of new cases of Covid-19 across the US had risen above 70,000 yet again, according to Johns Hopkins University, taking the weekly average to a record high of more than 500,000.
Increased restrictions amid rising cases in Europe were also weighing on sentiment.
The upcoming US general election on 3 November was also drawing an amount of attention from investors, with Democratic challenger Joe Biden maintaining a lead over incumbent Donald Trump in the polls, albeit a narrower one than previously.
Elsewhere, tech shares were in focus as chief executives of major firms Alphabet, Facebook and Twitter will appear before a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing.
On the macro front, mortgage applications rose 1.7% in the US during the week ended 23 October, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, rebounding from a 0.6% drop in the previous week. Applications to refinance a home loan advanced 2.5%.
Elsewhere, the US trade deficit in goods fell 4.5% last month after hitting a record high in August, going against estimates for a small increase in the trade gap.
Exports rose 2.7% in September to $122bn, primarily due to an increased level of shipments of farm products and capital goods, while imports slipped 0.2% to $201.4bn, according to the Census Bureau.
In the corporate space, Mastercard was 8.11% lower after it posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings.
Boeing descended 4.57% after posting a narrower-than-expected loss, while General Electric rose 4.51% after stronger-than-forecast revenues and a surprise in adjusted profits.
Dow Jones - Risers
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $121.50 2.02%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
3M Co. (MMM) $158.53 -1.55%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $56.31 -1.86%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $140.04 -1.98%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $76.18 -2.32%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $269.72 -2.57%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $96.54 -2.81%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $189.77 -3.02%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $44.25 -3.05%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) $52.34 -7.41%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $35.45 -5.29%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $202.68 -4.96%
Visa Inc. (V) $180.87 -4.84%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $111.20 -4.63%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $122.08 -4.62%
Boeing Co. (BA) $148.14 -4.57%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $151.16 -4.27%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $118.47 -3.93%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $34.59 -3.92%
S&P 500 - Risers
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $155.08 6.20%
General Electric Co. (GE) $7.42 4.51%
Rollins Inc. (ROL) $61.36 3.49%
Chubb Corp. (CB) $127.42 3.25%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $121.50 2.02%
Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF) $30.10 1.59%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $41.94 1.48%
Assurant Inc. (AIZ) $122.21 1.26%
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) $129.95 0.83%
Sherwin-Williams Co. (SHW) $678.66 0.77%
S&P 500 - Fallers
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $88.58 -11.45%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $12.30 -10.61%
Unum Group (UNM) $16.57 -9.21%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $15.03 -9.07%
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $155.78 -8.82%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $97.40 -8.72%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $11.42 -8.71%
Cimarex Energy Co (XEC) $23.76 -8.19%
Arconic Inc. (ARNC) $21.19 -8.15%
Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $185.39 -8.13%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $155.08 6.20%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.24 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $179.20 0.00%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $29.33 -0.54%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $486.24 -0.55%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $53.25 -0.56%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,273.59 -0.69%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $125.60 -0.81%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $362.86 -0.96%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $14.30 -1.11%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $85.28 -6.75%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $505.08 -5.75%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $44.84 -5.68%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $201.43 -5.60%
Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $61.98 -5.53%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $267.67 -5.51%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $1,510.80 -5.51%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $1,516.62 -5.46%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,605.05 -5.46%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $237.62 -5.18%