Delta Variant Hammers Stock Market Early

Dow is down about 2% in early trading
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 19, 2021 9:01 AM CDT
Delta Variant Hammers Stock Market Early
Trader Michael Conlon works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Friday, July 16.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The delta variant of COVID is causing caseloads to rise and the stock market to head in the opposite direction. Major indexes have started the new week with steep losses because of fears about the variant's impact on the world economy, reports the Wall Street Journal. In early trading, the Dow was down more than 700 points, about 2%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were off by slightly lower percentages.

Investors were ditching stocks for bonds, notes the Journal, while CNBC reports that companies that will directly feel the impact of a slowdown the most were hurting. United Airlines and Royal Caribbean, for example, were both down 4%. “The market appears ready to take on a more defensive character as we experience a meaningful deceleration in earnings and economic growth,” Mike Wilson of Morgan Stanley wrote on Monday. (More stock market stories.)

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