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 | 47954.99 | +104.05 | +0.22% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 6870.4 | +13.28 | +0.19% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 23578.128014 | +72.99 | +0.31% |
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. | 25.87 | +0.05 | +0.19% |
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 67.10 | -0.14 | -0.21% |
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. | 201.89 | +0.02 | +0.01% |
| CAT | CATERPILLAR INC. | 603.17 | +4.02 | +0.67% |
| FCX | FREEPORT-MCMORAN INC. | 45.19 | +0.57 | +1.29% |
Meanwhile, chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Nvidia Corp. struggled under growth concerns.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD | ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC. | 217.97 | +1.99 | +0.92% |
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 182.41 | -0.97 | -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. | 158.32 | +0.88 | +0.56% |
| BIDU | BAIDU INC. | 125.66 | +6.94 | +5.85% |
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%.