Dow Posts Biggest Single-day Drop This Year As COVID-19 Worries Resurface

By FOX Business
Posted on 07/19/21 | News Source: FOX Business

U.S. stock markets suffered among their steepest single-day declines of the year on Monday as the recent rise in COVID-19 infections stoked fears of an economic slowdown. 

New COVID-19 infections jumped 70% last week to about 30,000 a day as the Delta variant continued to spread. Deaths rose to an average of 250 a day, mostly in unvaccinated people.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 724 points, or 2.09% the worst session of 2021. While the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.58% and 1.06%, respectively, the worst drop since May.

Selling in the equity markets caused investors to seek safety in the U.S. Treasury market with the yield on the 10-year note falling 10 basis points to 1.18%, the lowest since March of 2020 as tracked by Dow Jones Market Data Group. 

In stocks, rate-sensitive banks, like JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., were lower.