Stocks fall as economic pain deepens, rally runs out of gas | National News
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A currency trader walks by the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Asian shares were mixed on Friday after a late slide in several Big Tech stocks left major indexes lower on Wall Street.
A currency trader watches computer monitors near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. Asian shares were mixed on Friday after a late slide in several Big Tech stocks left major indexes lower on Wall Street.
FILE – In this Nov. 23, 2020 file photo, stone sculptures adorn the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks are pulling lower again on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021, after reports showed the pandemic is deepening the hole for the economy, as Washington prepares to throw it another lifeline.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed out its first losing week in three with another drop on Friday after reports showed the pandemic is deepening the hole for the economy, as Washington prepares to throw it another lifeline.
The S&P 500 fell 27.29, or 0.7%, to 3,768.25, with stocks of companies that most need a healthier economy taking some of the sharpest losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 177.26, or 0.6%, to 30,814.26, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 114.14, or 0.9%, to 12,998.50.
Treasury yields also dipped as reports showed shoppers held back on spending during the holidays and are feeling less confident, the latest in a litany of discouraging data on the economy.
Stocks have run out of steam since the S&P 500 set a record high a week ago amid optimism that COVID-19 vaccines and more stimulus from Washington will bring an economic recovery. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% over the week.
Friday offered the first chance for traders to act after President-elect Joe Biden unveiled details of a $1.9 trillion plan to prop up the economy. He called for $1,400 cash payments for most Americans, the extension of temporary benefits for laid-off workers and a push to get COVID-19 vaccines to more Americans. It certainly fit with investors’ expectation for a big and bold plan, but markets had already rallied powerfully in anticipation of it.
