Dow Jones Industrial Average loses 104 points
The Dow lost 104.53 points, or 0.4%, to close at 27,686.91. The S&P 500 lost 0.8% to 3333.69. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.7% to 10,782.82. A late-day sell-off in tech shares dragged the S&P 500 into the red after it came within inches of its late-February all-time high.
Vaccine hope sparks rotation into reopening trade
Sentiment over a coronavirus vaccine was lifted after local news agencies reported Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the country had given regulatory approval for the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine. While there was skepticism about whether Russia had developed a safe vaccine so quickly, the news triggered optimism from investors about the race for an inoculation and perhaps that the market isn’t pricing in how quickly a valid one could be ready. This all led to traders piling into names that would benefit from the economy reopening at the expense of tech stocks.
As the day went on however, the tech selling grew and eventually took the whole market down.
Tech falls
Tech shares struggled, with Facebook and Amazon each falling more than 2%. Netflix slid 3% and Microsoft pulled back by 2%.
What happens next?
U.S. inflation data is set for release on Wednesday along with earnings from Cisco Systems and Lyft.
