S&P 500 sinks as coronavirus surge leads to shutdowns

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 943 points Wednesday as surging coronavirus cases forced more shutdown measures in Europe and raised fears of more restrictions in the S.U.

The S&P 500 slid 3.5 percent, its third straight loss and its biggest drop since June. The benchmark index is already down 5.6 percent this week, on track for its biggest weekly decline since March. That’s when the market was in the midst of selling off as strict lockdowns choked the economy.

The selling in U.S. markets followed broad declines in Europe, where the French president announced tough measures to slow the virus’ spread and German officials agreed to impose a four-week partial lockdown.

In the U.S., cases are increasing in just about every state and the number of deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are on the rise. Even if the most restrictive lockdowns don’t return, investors worry that the worsening pandemic could scare away customers of businesses regardless and sap their profits. The U.S. economy could lose momentum just as prospects for more economic support from

Washington have dwindled as Election Day nears.

“Many people had come to believe we were at least stable, and now we’re having a second uptick, which throws potential GDP and everything else up in the air,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. ”I did not expect this level of volatility or this degree of a sell-off.”

The S&P 500 lost 119.65 points to 3,271.03. The Dow lost 943.24 points, or 3.4 percent, to 26,519.95. The Nasdaq composite slumped 426.48 points, or 3.7 percent, to 11,004.87. The selling was widespread, and 96 percent of stocks in the S&P 500 fell.

Investors headed into the safety of U.S. government bonds. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 0.77 percent from 0.79 percent late Tuesday. It was as high as 0.87 percent last week.