Dow Sinks 650 Points As Surging COVID-19 Cases Spur Lockdown Fears

U.S. stocks took a nosedive in early trading on Wall Street Monday, their worst day since early September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day down 650.19 points, or 2.29 percent, for its worst day since Sept. 3 after falling by as much as 890 points earlier in the day.

The S&P 500 was down about 1.86 percent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.64 percent.

Analysts say stocks tumbled in part due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the United States and the lack of additional stimulus to aid businesses and Americans. There were about 300,000 new cases nationwide between Thursday and Monday, according to data at Johns Hopkins University.

The surge in cases raises the risk that large parts of the economy could be closed again. Lockdowns are being implemented across Europe after a surge there. Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden has said he would be open to lockdowns, while incumbent President Donald Trump has said he would not support a return to closing the economy.

Monday’s losses came a day after White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows added to the dampening mood, saying that the United States was “not going to control” the pandemic.

Rising cases caused travel stocks to sink. Royal Caribbean dropped 9.65 percent and Norwegian Cruise Line declined 8.45 percent, while United Airlines fell 7.02 percent and American Airlines slid 6.35 percent.

New stimulus is getting less likely as the days pass. The House passed a new round of aid months ago but the Republican-held Senate has failed to reach a consensus and weeks of negotiations between Democratic lawmakers and White House officials have failed to produce an agreement.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on CNBC Monday that stimulus talks had slowed down but were still ongoing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has been leading negotiations with the White House said that a deal must be reached “as soon as possible” but said Congress “cannot accept the administration’s refusal to crush the virus, honor our heroes or put money in the pockets of the American people.”

“In all of our legislation, we have stressed the importance of testing, but the administration has never followed through,” she said. “The Republicans’ continued surrender to the virus — particularly amid the recent wave of cases — is official malfeasance.”

–UPI contributed to this report.