NEW YORK, June 26 — Wall Street stocks were down sharply at mid-morning today, adding to losses after Texas partly reversed the reopening of its economy due to surging coronavirus cases.
Near 1445 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.2 per cent, or around 560 points, at 25,182.05.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.9 per cent to 3,026.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 2.1 per cent to 9,809.37.
Equities opened lower and accelerated their fall after Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered bars to close and reduced the allowable capacity at restaurants to 50 per cent from 75 per cent.
Stocks have been volatile this week as investors try to assess the implications of the current phase of the coronavirus crisis and whether it will be as devastating to the economy as the shutdowns earlier this year.
US indices fell sharply Wednesday, but recovered some of those losses yesterday on bargain hunting facilitated by loose monetary policy.
Travel-oriented stocks including American Airlines and Marriott International fell sharply today, along with petroleum-linked equities such as Exxon Mobil and Halliburton.
Large banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo were down more than four per cent after the Fed late yesterday ordered the industry to suspend buybacks and limit dividend payments amid uncertainty over the coronavirus.
Dow member Nike dropped 5.7 per cent as it reported a surprise US$790 million loss following a steep drop in revenues as the pandemic forced stores closed.
But Gap surged 34 per cent after it announced a new venture with Kanye West that will sell West’s Yeezy brand in the chain’s stores. — AFP
