Dow Extends Losses as Virus Spike, Weaker Earnings Rein in Bulls

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The Dow slipped Tuesday as weaker earnings from major dow components and renewed concerns about rising infections offset gains in tech.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.80%, or 221 points. The S&P 500 was up 0.35%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.35%.

COVID-19 infection in the U.S. surged above 8.7 million on Tuesday, with more than 20 states reporting record numbers of new infections.

The U.S. has averaged at least 71,000 new cases of the coronavirus over the last seven days, according to The New York Times, the highest seven-day number since the start of the outbreak.

The surge in infection comes as Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) said its coronavirus antibody showed no improvement in hospitalized patients who had an advanced stage of the disease, sending its shares down 5%. The drugmaker added, however, it would continue to explore the efficacy of its antibody in patients at an early stage of disease progression.

Fears over the pace of the economic recovery were exacerbated by signs the strength of the consumer is beginning to wane at a time when hopes of pre-election stimulus suffered a blow.

The Conference Board said the index of consumer confidence slipped to a reading of 100.9 this month from 101.3 in September, missing economists forecast for a reading of 102.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday adjourned the Senate until Nov. 9, all but ending hopes for a deal on stimulus before the U.S. election on Nov. 3.

Industrials and financials led the selling as banks and airlines respectively extended losses from a day earlier amid concerns parts of the U.S. may see reopening measures rolled back.

As well as virus concerns, industrials were hurt by a fall in major dow components like 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT). Both industrials stalwarts fail to provide guidance, though 3M did forecast sales to be flat to up low single digits in October. 

Tech, however, held up firm, with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) up more 1% ahead of its quarterly results after the closing bell. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are also expected to report later this week.

Gains in tech, however, were stifled by a fall in chip stocks, led by a 5% slip in Advanced Micro Devices.

AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) reported better-than-expected third-quarter results thanks to higher demand for its PC, gaming and data center products. The company also confirmed its $35 billion acquisition of Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX).

Energy, meanwhile, shrugged off a rise in oil prices, paced by declines in National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV), Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL).

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