Stocks Sink as Democrats Block Economic Rescue Bill

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 20: Traders, some in medical masks, work on the floor of the Ne
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Stocks came in for another beating on Monday after Democrats blocked a congressional spending package aimed at cushioning the blow from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 3 percent. Earlier it was down by as much as 5 percent and at one point lost all its gains since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. The S&P 500 fell 2.93 percent. The Nasdaq Composite slid by a milder 0.27 percent.

All three indexes closed well above their lows of the day.

Stocks dropped in early trading Monday after Capitol Hill Democrats pushed back against the economic rescue package proposed by Republican lawmakers and supported by the Trump White House. They recovered some of those losses in the early afternoon until Democrats once again blocked progress on the Senate bill by voting against a procedural measure.

Nine of the 11 sectors of the S&P were down. Consumer discretionary was the best performing sector, up 0.66 percent. Energy, financials, and real estate were the three worst sectors.

Boeing was the best performing Dow stock, rising 12.39 percent. The worst stock was Chevon, down 9.38 percent.

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