At the close of trading on Monday, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average fell back from a record high reached last week. The reason for all this is the concern of investors amid the growing incidence of coronavirus infection in the United States.
So, at the end of the trading session, the industrial Dow Jones fell by 0.5% to 30069.79 points, the broad market index S&P 500 lost 0.2% and stopped at 3691.96 points, and the technological Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.4% to 12519.95 points.
In the previous month, stock markets confidently showed more and more new records on the background of hopes for stabilization of the global economy in connection with the development of vaccines against Covid-19. However, in December, there's an uncontrolled increase in the number of infections and its impact on the economic recovery significantly reduced investor optimism. It became known that last weekend, a new quarantine restriction was introduced in California aimed at combating the spread of coronavirus infection. Such drastic measures were the result of a record number of people hospitalized with Covid-19 the day before.
Meanwhile, experts are talking about the fact that even the most effective vaccine will not have a significant impact on the current third wave of coronavirus, and the short-term growth prospects of the American economy are serious concerns.
Another reason of concern for the analysts was the information published last Friday about the decline in job growth in America. According to data, it slowed down and reduced its turnover against the background of new quarantine restrictions for businesses in November.
According to investors, the unstable situation in the country may push Congress to adopt a new package of state support measures for the economy. A group of representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties is trying to reach a compromise on the issue of aid measures that could support businesses and Americans until the end of the first quarter of 2021.
In the meantime, let's go back to the more pressing figures and analyze how the news of the previous week affected the results of Monday's trading session.
Among the Dow Jones components, Boeing Co. shares were among the leaders of growth, which increased by 2.91% to close at 239.48 points. Apple Inc. shares went up by 1.37%, ending the session at 123.92 points. Nike Inc. securities increased by 1.02%, showing 138.59 points.
The list of falling shares was headed by Intel Corporation, the price of which fell by 4.02%, closing the session at 49.90 points. Dow Inc. shares went up by 3.38% to report 53.19 points, while Chevron Corp lost 3.04% to end trading at 90.44 points.
Most of the S&P 500 sectors were down on Monday, with only the technology, utilities and communications sub-indexes registering slight gains. Among the favorites were MarketAxess Holdings Inc., which rose 5.49% to 568.75 points, and L Brands Inc., which gained 4.76% and showed 40.07 points. American Airlines Group shares went up by 4.63% to 17.16 points.
The list of outsiders was led by shares of Acronis Corp, which fell in value by 7.80 to 28.49 points. The CenturyLink Inc. securities went down to 5.26% and closed the session at 10.01 points. TechnipFMC PLC quotes lost 4.87% and showed 9.77 points.
The leaders of growth in the NASDAQ Composite were shares of Obalon Therapeutics Inc., which rose by 130.84% to 2,470 points, Greenland Acquisition Corp, which gained 54.68% and closed at 8.59 points, and Oncternal Therapeutics Inc., which rose by 50.75% to 4.01 points.
The list of falls was led by Scpharmaceuticals Inc, which lost 34.38% in value and closed at 5.74 points, as well as shares of Globus Maritime Ltd, which lost 29.96% and ended the session at 7.3050 points. Quotes Curis Inc. fell by 27.66 percent to 1,360 points.
On the New York stock exchange, the number of securities that lost in price (1,850) exceeded the number that rose in price (1,243), and the quotes of 81 shares remained unchanged. On the NASDAQ stock exchange, 1,637 companies' securities fell in value, rose at 1,345 and retained their previous closing figures at 79.
The Pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.3%. Negotiations between the European Union and the UK over a trade agreement have entered the final phase. Meanwhile, market participants do not rule out that the parties will not be able to agree on trade issues.
On Friday, the yield on 10-year US government bonds fell to 0.928% from 0.967%.
The Cboe Volatility Index, which is based on S&P 500 options trading indicators increased by 4.52% to 21.73 points.
Gold futures for February delivery gained 1.24% to close at $ 1,862. 77 a Troy ounce. Prices for January WTI crude futures fell 1.28% to $ 45.67 per barrel. Brent crude futures for February delivery were down 1.14% at $ 48.69 a barrel.
The main pair of the Forex market EUR / USD lost 0.05% and showed 1.2114 points, while the USD / JPY quotes fell by 0.10% to 104.03 points. Futures on the US dollar index have grown 0.17% to 90,847 points.
As for the situation in the Asia-Pacific markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.2% in the previous day's trading session. Analysts attribute this reaction of the index to the message published the day before. So, it became known that the United States is preparing sanctions against Chinese officials related to the removal of some Hong Kong opposition lawmakers.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com