Wall Street mixed
Investors weigh spike in virus cases
NEW YORK U.S. stocks were mixed in choppy afternoon trading on Monday, with the benchmark S&P 500 paring early losses to trade flat as investors weighed the economic outcome of a spike in new coronavirus cases in China and parts of the United States.
Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 fell as much as 2.5 per cent as it flirted with its 200-day moving average, an indicator of long-term trend.
The Dow edged lower while Nasdaq was up 0.6 per cent, helped by Tesla Inc, Nvidia Corp and Zoom Video Communications.
“Some technical levels are causing a little bit of volatility primarily because the stock market went up as fast as it did,” said Jimmy Lee, chief executive officer of The Wealth Consulting Group, a wealth management firm based in Las Vegas.
“It’s a good reason to take some profits on potentially a second wave of coronavirus and the fear of more government shutdown.”
Beijing reinstated curbs after an unexpected spike in cases and the United States reported a record number of new infections and hospitalizations in more states.
Trillions of dollars in fiscal and monetary stimulus along with easing of restrictions had lifted the S&P 500 as much as 47.5% from the pandemic low in March and helped the techheavy Nasdaq confirm a bull market last week.
But, a dismal economic outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve and jitters over a resurgence in coronavirus cases sent the Wall Street’s main indexes for their worst week since March.
Around midday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 46.96 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 25,558.58, the S&P 500 was up 1.15 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 3,042.46.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 59.68 points, or 0.62 per cent, at 9,648.48.
In contrast, the small-cap Russell 2000 climbed about 1.2 per cent. The CBOE volatility index, a gauge of investor anxiety, eased after jumping to a near two-month high of 44.44.
Nine of the major S&P sectors were higher led by a 0.5 per cent rise in industrials.
Moderna Inc rose 5.6 per cent after a report said Israel is in advanced talks with the drug developer to buy its coronavirus vaccine.
Beginning Tuesday, investors will focus on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s two-day congressional testimony on the monetary policy report.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.33-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.07-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 33 new highs and 10 new lows.