New York — US stocks tumbled on Monday, with the S&P 500 headed for its biggest daily decline in almost seven weeks, as soaring coronavirus cases and uncertainty about a fiscal relief bill in Washington dimmed the outlook for the US economic recovery.
“Fears about Covid-19 resurgence and the continued failure to reach a fiscal policy package between Republicans and Democrats has investors unnerved,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.The energy index tracked a more than 3% fall in oil prices, falling 3.9%. The economically sensitive industrials and financials also posted steep declines among S&P sectors.
It is also one of the busiest weeks of the third-quarter earnings season that will see results from mega-cap US tech firms including Apple, Amazon, Google-parent Alphabet and Facebook. Ahead of the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 779.76 points, or 2.75%, to 27,555.81. The S&P 500 lost 78.66 points, or 2.27%, to 3,386.73 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 251.20 points, or 2.18%, to 11,297.08.