Stocks tumble as flight to safety drops 10-year yield to lowest since February

10-year yield falls below 1.29%

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 44782 -128.65 -0.29%
SP500 S&P 500 6047.15 +14.77 +0.24%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 19403.947849 +185.78 +0.97%

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. 25.43 +0.29 +1.15%
DAL DELTA AIR LINES INC. 63.82 +0.20 +0.31%

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. 155.44 +3.04 +1.99%
CAT CATERPILLAR INC. 406.11 +2.41 +0.60%
FCX FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC. 44.20 +0.44 +1.01%

Meanwhile, chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Nvidia Corp. struggled under growth concerns. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
AMD ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC. 136.24 -1.48 -1.07%
NVDA NVIDIA CORP. 135.34 -1.58 -1.15%

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. 87.40 +0.80 +0.92%
BIDU BAIDU INC. 85.05 +0.23 +0.27%

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%.