NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st September, 2020) Wall Street ended broadly lower despite posting a fifth straight month of gains and new record highs for top US stock indicators S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite.
"There's been nothing normal about 2020 and this month is no different," senior analyst at online trading platform OANDA, Craig Erlam, said on Monday. "There's growing optimism that we're getting closer to a COVID-19 vaccine that will unleash the potential of the economies around the world and until then, tech stocks have gone stratospheric and central banks have flooded the system with liquidity."
The Dow, the broadest index on the New York Stock Exchange, closed down 224 points, or 0.8 percent, at 28,430. For August, the Dow rose 7.6 percent for its fifth straight positive month and the best monthly performance since 1984, data showed.
The S&P 500, a barometer for the top 500 US stocks, hit record highs for a seventh session in a row, peaking at 3,515. It settled the day down 9 points, or 0.3 percent, at 3,499. For August, the S&P rose 7 percent for its fifth straight month of gains.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index climbed 80 points, or 0.7 percent, to finish at 11,775. It hit a record high of 11,830 earlier. For August, the Nasdaq gained almost 10 percent, rising for a fifth straight month.
