NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th September, 2020) US stocks plunged with key indexes falling as much as 5 percent to reverse a recent trend of record highs, amid worries that economic recovery from the COVID-19 was stalling.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the hardest hit index on the New York Stock Exchange, falling almost 600 points, or 5 percent, to close at just under 11,460. It hit a record high of 12,074 points on Thursday.
The S&P 500, a barometer for the top 500 US stocks, was next in line, settling down nearly 3.5 percent, or 124.05, at 3,457. It hit an all-time high of 3,588.11 a day earlier.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the broadest stock index on the NYSE, lost 2.8 percent, or 811 points, to finish at 28,289. It was the largest one-day drop on the Dow since June.
The sell-off came as data showed the US trade deficit expanded by more than $10 billion for July. A reading for a US non-manufacturing index slowed to 56.9 last month, from 58.1 in July. On the labor front, US weekly jobless claims came in at 881,000 versus the previous week's 1.01 million, but failed to calm investors fearing a stalling in economic recovery.
"Wall Street's rally is running out of steam amid worries the labor market recovery has stalled," said Ed Moya, analyst at New York's online brokerage OANDA. "The headline beat for weekly jobless claims needs to be taken with a grain of salt."
Notwithstanding Thursday's slump, the Nasdaq remains up nearly 28 percent on the year while S&P 500 continues to show an annual gain of almost 7 percent.
