The blue-chip Dow just closed out October with a 4.6% loss, marking its worst monthly performance since March.
Stock futures fell in overnight trading on Sunday amid concern rising coronavirus cases could slow the global economy. The losses came as England adopted a stay-at-home order and as traders braced for Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, where a contested fight for president or the Senate could delay a much-needed fiscal stimulus for the U.S. economy. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down by 150 points. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.5% and Nasdaq 100 futures also traded 0.5% lower. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Saturday England is closing all nonessential businesses for the next four weeks after more than 22,600 weekly Covid-19 cases were reported for the U.K., far higher than its first peak of 4,800 average weekly cases in the spring. People will be ordered to stay at home unless it’s for essential purposes, Johnson said. The U.S. is also grappling with rising new coronavirus infections. The nation reported 99,321 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, beating its previous record set only a day prior, according to Johns Hopkins University.
