U.S. stocks open lower as COVID-19 cases surge

Xinhua
20 Nov 2020, 21:48 GMT+10

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday as the nation was grappling with soaring COVID-19 infections.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 56.79 points, or 0.19 percent, to 29,426.44. The S&P 500 decreased 5.72 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,576.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 23.82 points, or 0.20 percent, to 11,880.89.

Of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors, technology dipped 0.3 percent in the morning session, leading the laggards. Utilities rose 0.5 percent, the best-performing group.

Investors weighed the economic impact of the surging new coronavirus cases.

The United States reported a record of 187,833 new cases on Thursday, pushing the national seven-day average of daily new infections to 165,029, about 24 percent higher than a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The country has reported more than 11.7 million cases in total with the death toll from the disease exceeding 252,000 as of Friday morning local time.

Wall Street also focused on a disagreement between the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve over the continuation of funding for some of the emergency programs established during the early days of the coronavirus crisis.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday asked the Federal Reserve to end five emergency COVID-19 lending facilities and return 455 billion U.S. dollars of unused funds. However, the Fed wanted to continue all these emergency facilities.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Auckland Sun.

More Information

null in null

International

Section

Trump hints at DOGE investigation of Musk subsidies

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed Elon Musk's success has been built on government subsidies. Without...

Native leaders, activists oppose detention site on Florida wetlands

EVERGLADES, Florida: Over the weekend, a diverse coalition of environmental activists, Native American leaders, and residents gathered...

Beijing crowds cheer AI-powered robots over real soccer players

BEIJING, China: China's national soccer team may struggle to stir excitement, but its humanoid robots are drawing cheers — and not...

COVID-19 source still unknown, says WHO panel

]LONDON, U.K.: A World Health Organization (WHO) expert group investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic released its final...

Fox faces $787 million lawsuit from Newsom over Trump phone call

DOVER, Delaware: California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken legal aim at Fox News, accusing the network of deliberately distorting...

DeepSeek faces app store ban in Germany over data transfer fears

FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany has become the latest country to challenge Chinese AI firm DeepSeek over its data practices, as pressure...

New Zealand

Section

"It's a moment I'll cherish and remember for a very long time": Proteas batter Lhuan-dre Pretorius on his maiden test hundred

Bulawayo [Zimbabwe], July 2 (ANI): After a majestic century in the first test against Zimbabwe on Tuesday, South Africa batter Lhuan-dre...

Bumrah workload, two-spinner option, winless streak: A lot for India to focus on as 2nd England Test at Birmingham draws closer

Birmingham [UK], July 1 (ANI): The presence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, the possibility of a two-spinner strategy, and some milestones...