- The major Wall Street indices started the new week on the wrong foot.
- Renewed coronavirus fears cast a shadow over the stimulus bill agreement Monday.
- Energy stocks are suffering heavy losses amid falling crude prices.
As indicated by the poor performance of futures indices, the major stock indices in the US they opened deep into negative territory on Monday amid an intense flight to safety. At time of writing, the S&P 500 was down 1.05% on the day to 3-671, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6% to 30,000 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.1% to 12,596.
A new strain of coronavirus detected in the UK is reportedly 70% more transmissible than COVID-19 and major economies announced border closures and travel restrictions on Monday.
Reflecting the risk-averse market environment, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street’s fear gauge, is at its highest since early November at 26.73, gaining nearly 24% on the day. .
On a positive note, US lawmakers finally reached an agreement on the $ 900 billion coronavirus relief bill over the weekend, but this development appears to be failing to improve the market mood for the moment.
Among the top 11 sectors in the S&P 500, the Energy Index is down more than 2% due to a more than 3% drop in crude oil prices. On the other hand, the Financial Index is the only major sector trading in positive territory after the opening bell.
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