Stocks tumble as flight to safety drops 10-year yield to lowest since February
10-year yield falls below 1.29%
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U.S. stock markets were under pressure Thursday as the spreading of COVID-19 variants sparked concerns over global growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 256 points, or 0.74%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.85% and 0.72%, respectively. The selling tipped both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite off of Wednesday's all-time highs.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 43870.35 | +461.88 | +1.06% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5948.71 | +31.60 | +0.53% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18972.420086 | +6.28 | +0.03% |
The sharp selloff in the stock market steered investors into the bond market, pushing the 10-year yield down by 3.4 basis points to 1.287%, the lowest since Feb. 18.
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In stocks, financials, which benefit from a steeper yield curve, were in the crosshairs.
Carnival Corp. and Delta Airlines suffered amid concerns a rebound in COVID-19 cases could stunt demand for travel.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCL | CARNIVAL CORP. | 25.35 | +0.27 | +1.08% |
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 63.34 | -0.30 | -0.47% |
Dow component Boeing Co. was lower for a fourth straight session following reports that a unit of Russian airliner Aeroflot canceled an order for 20 Boeing 737 Max jets.
Other industrials, including Caterpillar Inc. and Freeport-McMoRan Inc., were also weaker.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BA | THE BOEING CO. | 143.41 | -2.67 | -1.83% |
| CAT | CATERPILLAR INC. | 389.59 | +8.09 | +2.12% |
| FCX | FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC. | 43.76 | +0.06 | +0.14% |
Meanwhile, chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Nvidia Corp. struggled under growth concerns.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD | ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC. | 137.49 | -0.11 | -0.08% |
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 146.67 | +0.78 | +0.53% |
Chinese tech stocks listed in the U.S. tumbled in early trading amid concerns Beijing will toughen measures on the sector. Didi Global Inc. shares have plunged 27% since Chinese regulators on July 1 announced an investigation into national data security risks at the company.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIDI | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
| BABA | ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD. | 85.58 | -1.17 | -1.35% |
| BIDU | BAIDU INC. | 81.63 | -5.12 | -5.90% |
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 74 cents to $72.94 a barrel while gold slipped $1.90 to $1,799.60 an ounce.
Overseas markets were sharply lower.
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In Europe, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX 30 declined 2.01% and 1.73%, respectively, after the European Central Bank tweaked its inflation target to 2% "over the medium term." The central bank will allow for inflation to run above the level for a brief time.
Elsewhere in the region, Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 1.68%.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.89%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 0.88% and China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.79%.