US close: Stocks sink as Covid infections surge
Wall Street stocks closed sharply in the red on Thursday, amid an increased number of new Covid-19 cases in states emerging from lockdowns.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 6.9% at 25,128.17, the S&P 500 lost 5.89% to 3,002.10, and the Nasdaq Composite was 5.27% weaker at 9,492.73.
At the open, the Dow lost 846.58 points earlier on Thursday, continuing on from losses recorded in the previous session after the Federal Open Market Committee said it expects the US economy to shrink by 6.5% this year.
However, the Fed had said it anticipated that the US economy will return to growth in 2021, with unemployment falling to 9.3% and GDP increasing 5%.
"The ongoing public health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term," it said on Wednesday.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also said on Wednesday that he would seriously consider more direct payments to US citizens in the next phase of the White House's Covid-19 rescue package, stating that funds should also be targeted to help sectors struggling to reopen - including hospitality and tourism.
But despite support from the White House and the Fed, concerns regarding a second wave of Covid-19 cases were weighing heavily on sentiment on Thursday after Texas, one of the first states to exit lockdowns, reported a third straight day of record-breaking coronavirus hospitalisations.
Nine of California's 58 counties have also reported a spike in new confirmed cases and the overall number of cases in the US has now topped two million.
Donald Trump stated he would resume hosting of election rallies from 19 June and was said to not be planning to enforce social distancing measures at such events.
Also in focus on Thursday, the number of Americans filing for unemployment claims continued to fall back last week.
According to the Department of Labor, initial jobless claims fell by 355,000 during the week ending on 6 June to reach a pace of 1.542 million, slightly higher than consensus forecasts for 1.45 million.
Still on the macro front, producer prices increased more than expected in May due to rising meat costs, but the underlying trend in producer inflation continued to be subdued.
The Labor Department's producer price index for final demand rebounded 0.4% last month after plunging 1.3% in April - the biggest decrease since the series was revamped in December 2009.
On the corporate side of things, shares in United Airlines slid 16.11%, Delta Air Lines lost 14.03%, American Airlines tumbled 15.51%, and Southwest Airlines was down 11.6%, while Carnival was 15.3% weaker and Norwegian Cruise Line was off 16.46%.
The increased number of new Covid-19 hospitalisations causing concerns about future travel.
GrubHub shares managed gains of 4.64%, after the firm agreed to be acquired by the London-listed Just Eat Takeaway, while Oneok slumped 15.84% after launching a public offering of 26 million shares.
Dow Jones - Risers
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $30.52 0.00%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $120.09 -0.88%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $116.26 -2.49%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $56.45 -2.76%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $187.51 -4.23%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $140.87 -4.69%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $335.90 -4.80%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $186.27 -5.37%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $77.35 -5.41%
Visa Inc. (V) $188.88 -5.79%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Boeing Co. (BA) $170.00 -16.42%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $118.01 -9.13%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $194.13 -9.08%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $46.18 -8.83%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $110.55 -8.62%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $89.37 -8.41%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $97.21 -8.34%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $121.55 -8.22%
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (RTX) $62.85 -8.06%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $40.75 -7.97%
S&P 500 - Risers
Kroger Co. (KR) $32.70 0.40%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $72.77 0.00%
SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) $70.13 0.00%
Cboe Global Markets Inc. (CBOE) $104.20 0.00%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $24.22 0.00%
Apache Corp. (APA) $17.73 0.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.24 0.00%
Raytheon Co. (RTN) $116.96 0.00%
L3 Technologies Inc (LLL) $245.17 0.00%
Nielsen N.V. (NLSN) $15.09 0.00%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) $17.25 -16.46%
Boeing Co. (BA) $170.00 -16.42%
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) $17.41 -16.14%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $33.32 -16.11%
Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS) $47.57 -15.88%
ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $35.33 -15.84%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $20.82 -15.81%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $14.38 -15.51%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $12.28 -15.37%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $17.44 -15.30%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $108.24 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $179.20 0.00%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $596.16 -1.72%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $134.92 -1.74%
O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) $408.92 -1.82%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $8.65 -1.87%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $122.42 -1.91%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $425.56 -2.05%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $300.83 -2.11%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $90.81 -2.40%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
American Airlines Group (AAL) $14.38 -15.51%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $77.73 -11.03%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $238.28 -10.94%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $91.44 -10.89%
Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $15.61 -10.54%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $42.35 -9.61%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $89.74 -9.29%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $142.99 -8.36%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,588.37 -8.36%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $72.57 -8.15%