Last-Hour Recovery Stems Wall St. Losses

At one point, the Dow was down 942 points
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 21, 2020 3:56 PM CDT
Dow Drops 509 Points as Global Markets Struggle
Wall Street opened sharply lower Monday, Sept. 21, 2020, led by financial stocks, after a report alleged banks were profiting from illicit dealings with disreputable people and criminal networks.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, FIle)

Wall Street slumped Monday as markets tumbled worldwide on worries about the pandemic’s economic pain, though the S&P 500 had pared its losses by the end of the day. The drop began in Asia as soon as trading opened for the week, and they accelerated in Europe on worries about the possibility of tougher restrictions as cases rise, the AP reports. The S&P 500 fell 38.41 points, or 1.2%, to 3,281.06. It extends the index’s losing streak to four days, its longest since February's sell-off on recession worries. But a last-hour recovery helped the blue chip index more than halve its loss of 2.7% from earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 509.72 points, or 1.8%, to 27,147.70 after coming back from an earlier 942-point slide The Nasdaq composite fell 14.48, or 0.1%, to10,778.80 after recovering from a 2.5% drop.

Wall Street has been shaky this month, and the S&P 500 has dropped 8.4% since hitting a record Sept. 2 amid a long list of worries for investors. Chief among them is fear that stocks got too expensive when coronavirus counts are still worsening, Congress is unable to deliver more aid for the economy, US-China tensions are rising and a contentious US election is approaching. Investors should expect the stock market to stay volatile, perhaps through the November elections, as they wait for these questions to shake out, said Jason Draho, head of asset allocation for the Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management. Monday's selling was exacerbated by worries about the possibility of more business restrictions in Europe, particularly as the US heads into flu season, Draho said, and “some investors may be stepping aside.”

(More stock market stories.)

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