Stocks sink amid European coronavirus spike, dwindling US stimulus chances

Stocks on Monday dropped sharply amid concerns about rapidly rising coronavirus cases across Europe and dwindling odds of another economic rescue bill reaching President Trump’s desk.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a loss of 509 points, falling 1.8 percent. The S&P 500 index lost 1.2 percent and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1 percent Monday.

Monday’s losses came as several European countries reported quickly rising coronavirus cases after loosening pandemic-related restrictions, including some nations that had successfully slowed their first-wave outbreaks. Shares of airlines, cruise lines, hotels, and other travel and hospitality industry companies fell between 3 percent and 6 percent in early trading.

The United Kingdom is reportedly considering a new round of coronavirus restrictions, France and Spain now both have more new cases per day than the U.S., when adjusted for population, according to data compiled by Our World in Data.

The death Friday of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also plunged Capitol Hill into a supercharged battle over a potential nominee to succeed her.

The battle has driven a deeper partisan wedge between Democrats and Republicans with less than two months until Election Day that may squander the fleeting chance to strike a bipartisan stimulus deal before Nov. 3.

The Monday selloff comes after three straight weeks of losses for the stock market, which had rallied steadily from April through August as the U.S. gradually peeled back coronavirus restrictions. A sharp decline in stocks of major technology companies, which led the coronavirus rally, also continued into this week. 

Shares of major banks implicated in a report alleging widespread North Korean money laundering across major international financial firms also fell sharply before recovering later in the session. JPMorgan Chase stock fell 3.1 percent, HSBC fell 5.1 percent, Deutsche Bank fell 7.9 percent, and Bank of New York Mellon fell 2.1 percent.

Updated at 5:11 p.m.