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 | 39512.84 | +125.08 | +0.32% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5222.68 | +8.60 | +0.16% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 16340.868593 | -5.40 | -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. | 14.43 | -0.13 | -0.89% |
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 52.60 | -0.15 | -0.28% |
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. | 178.51 | -2.74 | -1.51% |
| CAT | CATERPILLAR INC. | 354.62 | +2.83 | +0.80% |
| FCX | FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC. | 51.59 | +0.52 | +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. | 151.92 | -0.47 | -0.31% |
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 898.78 | +11.31 | +1.27% |
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 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
| BABA | ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD. | 80.04 | +0.58 | +0.73% |
| BIDU | BAIDU INC. | 108.66 | -2.21 | -1.99% |
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%.