Dow Falls 200 Points As New Covid Strain Puts Damper On Stimulus

Dow Falls 200 Points As New Covid Strain Puts Damper On Stimulus

Topline

A new, rapidly spreading Covid-19 variant in the United Kingdom has triggered broad stock-market declines worldwide despite a breakthrough in U.S. stimulus negotiations that could push through legislation as soon as today–another reminder of the stock market's precarious near-term outlook despite strong optimism for the long-term.

"A new faster strain of Covid-19 is triggering risk aversion across the board," says Edward Moya, a ... [+] senior market analyst at Oanda.



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Key Facts





Shortly after market open, the Dow was tanking 310 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq fell about 1.2% each.





Energy and travel firms led major losses, with shares of the nation's three largest cruise lines–Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean–tanking 7%, 6.5% and 6%, respectively, reversing nearly a month's worth of gains for the industry.







Oil prices also fell sharply from pandemic highs, with West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude both falling around 4% as reports of the new coronavirus strain weighed on industry sentiment (which is already fragile as a result of demand uncertainty).