NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks tumbled for a second straight session on Tuesday as worries about chaos in the oil market overshadowed progress in Washington on additional relief for small businesses.The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 3.1 per cent to 2,736.56, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sank 3.5 per cent to 8,263.23.
Besides the shocking and historic turmoil in the oil market, stocks have also been pressured by uncertainty over the coronavirus and when the US caseload will begin to decline, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities. "It's a manifestation of the reminder that we've got a tsunami of bad news in front of us," Hogan said.
Stocks did not get a boost from a deal between US lawmakers and the White House on a US$480 billion emergency package that replenishes a depleted programme to help small businesses devastated by the coronavirus crisis.