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 46987.1 +74.80 +0.16%
SP500 S&P 500 6728.8 +8.48 +0.13%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 23004.537505 -49.46 -0.21%

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. 26.73 +0.36 +1.37%
DAL DELTA AIR LINES INC. 58.88 +1.07 +1.85%

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. 194.61 -1.89 -0.96%
CAT CATERPILLAR INC. 563.18 -6.59 -1.16%
FCX FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC. 39.81 +1.16 +3.00%

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

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
AMD ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC. 233.54 -4.16 -1.75%
NVDA NVIDIA CORP. 188.25 +0.17 +0.09%

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. 166.34 -1.27 -0.76%
BIDU BAIDU INC. 125.96 -1.08 -0.85%

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%.