Dow Has Its Worst Day in Months

Wall Street's day started ugly and finished even uglier. The Dow fell 1,861 points, or 6.9%, to 25,128; the S&P 500 fell 188 points, 5.8%, to 3,002; and the Nasdaq fell 527 points, 5.2%, to 9,492. All in all, the market had its worst day since March, reports CNBC. A big reason for the awful performance—worries about a second wave of the coronavirus in the US, reports the Wall Street Journal. Many states are seeing an increase in cases, which is dampening hopes for a smooth return to normal after a spring filled with lockdowns. A not-so-rosy outlook for recovery from the Fed on Wednesday—it warned of high unemployment for the foreseeable future—also contributed to the gloom.

“You’re seeing the psychology in the market get retested today," Dan Deming of KKM Financial tells CNBC. “The sense is maybe the market got ahead of itself, which makes sense given the fact that we’ve come so far so fast.” Stocks for airlines, cruise lines, and retailers were among the hardest hit on Thursday. In regard to the "second wave," former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb had a somewhat different take. States such as Arizona and Texas "never really got rid of the first wave," he says. "It's not a second wave." (More stock market stories.)