Stocks Close Sharply Lower on Concerns About Vaccine Rollout

January 27, 2021 in News by RBN Staff

 

Source: WSJ

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Major stock indexes suffered their sharpest one-day losses since October on Wednesday amid concerns about Covid-19 vaccine distribution, while traders were also captivated by the frenzied trading in GameStop and other heavily shorted stocks.

GameStop surged $199.53, or 135%, to $347.51 and AMC Entertainment Holdings soared $14.94, or 301%, to $19.90, part of a battle between day traders and short sellers. Both stocks are up more than 800% in January. Until Wednesday, the broader market’s moves had been relatively muted in recent sessions, despite the wild swings in a handful of individual stocks.

The blue-chip index fell 633.87 points, or 2.1%, to 30303.17, extending its losing streak to five sessions, and the S&P 500 dropped 98.85 points, or 2.6%, to 3750.77. The Nasdaq Composite lost 355.47 points, or 2.6%, to 13270.60. All three indexes posted their biggest one-day losses on a point and percentage basis since Oct. 28.

New variants of the Covid-19 virus are showing up around the world, putting fresh pressure on governments to get their populations vaccinated. That exacerbates the peril from any delays in the vaccination programs, and the ability to eventually end lockdowns or other restrictions.

AstraZeneca has said problems at a European factory would sharply cut supplies to EU nations. The EU this week pressured the drugmaker to instead supply it with vaccine from its U.K. factories if need be, which would then affect the rollout in the U.K.

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