U.S. stocks sold off for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, as surging coronavirus cases gave rise to new lockdowns in the U.S. and Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 943 points, a 3.43 percent Decline. The S&P 500 declined 3.53 percent. The Nasdaq Composite also dropped 3.73 percent. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.97 percent.
The broad-based sell off left investors with few places to hide in stocks. All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 fell by 2 percent or more. The best performing sector was Real Estate, which declined 2.41 percent. The worst performing sectors were Information Technology, which fell 4.33 percent and is up 40 percent this year, and Communication Services , which includes many digital media companies and is up 17.81 percent for the year and fell 4 percent Wednesday.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Wednesday a new partial lockdown that will begin Monday. France imposed a four-week lockdown that will be the most stringent since those that virtually shut down the economy in the spring. The U.K. also appears to be on the brink of imposing a national lockdown. llinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker banned indoor dining and drinking in Chicago and limited the number of people gathering in one place.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.