(Reuters) – The S&P 500 and the Dow fell on Thursday as U.S. coronavirus infections surged and investors weighed the timeline of the mass roll-out of an effective vaccine.
New York became the latest state to introduce social distancing restrictions on Wednesday, as new infections in the United States surged above 100,000 for an eighth consecutive day.
The blue-chip Dow dropped 0.6% as industrial and financial companies sensitive to economic growth fell, with Boeing Co and Goldman Sachs down about 2% each.
Airlines and cruise operators, among the hardest hit by the outbreak, also fell. The S&P 1500 airlines index declined 1%, while Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd fell 3.5% and Carnival Corp tumbled 5.7%.
“With several of the early November catalysts out of the way, the market does appear to be expressing concern with some of the near-term COVID trends,” said Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at StoneX Group Inc in New York.