By Kim Khan
Investing.com - Stocks remained sharply lower Thursday afternoon as the market felt pressure again from Covid-19 headlines and another plunge in yileds in the bond market.
The S&P 500 sank 3.2% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 3.4% or 912 points.
The losses reversed a large chunk of Wednesday’s major gains, when enthusiasm about former Vice President Joe Biden’s Super Tuesday showing gave investors an excuse for a healthcare-stock-led rally.
But the one-day-surge-one-day-plunge action is more evidence that Wall Street is still in the dark about how much impact Covid-19 will have on economic activity and corporate bottom lines.
New York state said the number of cases it had confirmed doubled to 22, while the Trump Administration said it would fall far short of its promise to have 1 million Covid-19 tests available by the end of this week.
Bonds were back in rally mode, with the 10-Year Treasury yield at 0.926%. The benchmark yield earlier fell below 0.9% for the first time.
Airlines, travel sites and other hospitality stocks sank sharply as companies continued to cancel non-essential travel and corporate events and conferences.
Dow component Boeing (NYSE:BA) fell 7% on concerns that the dent in air travel demand would lead to canceled orders at a time the company is vulnerable to do its 737 Max grounding. That drop about 136 points off the blue chip index alone.