US stocks reverse course, close mostly lower

NEW YORK: Wall Street opened strong on Monday but retreated to close mostly lower amid renewed concern that soaring Covid-19 infections will lead to more lockdowns in the fragile US economy.

Major stock indexes had hit new records in recent days as vaccine approvals boosted hope that global economies could begin to return to normal.

But even as the people began to receive the vaccine in the United States, the bellwether Dow Jones Industrial Average was unable to hold onto its early gains.

After hitting a 52-week high during the trading session, the DJIA ended with a loss of 0.6 percent dropping below the 30,000 mark to 29,861.55.

The broad-based S&P 500 also fell, dropping 0.4 percent to finish at 3,647.49, but the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index bucked the trend, gaining 0.5 percent to close at 12,440.04.

The United States on Friday became the sixth country to green-light the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

But the US coronavirus death toll hit 300,000 on Monday and analysts at Schwab cautioned that "we're not yet out of the coronavirus tunnel."

As infections continue to mount, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio warned the city could experience another "full shutdown" soon.

"We're seeing the kind of level of infection with the coronavirus we haven't seen since May and we have got to stop that momentum," he said, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, renewed, if cautious, hope about a new US economic relief package also helped boost equities early in the day, as a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Washington was set to formally release a $908 billion compromise package.

The plan includes new unemployment aid, help for state and local governments and limited liability protections for businesses.

But there have been few signs in recent days that the latest offer would be enough to win support in the Republican-controlled Senate or the Democrat-controlled house.

Pfizer shares ended 0.3 percent higher.

Tesla jumped nearly 5 percent despite announcing a an 18-day shutdown of some of its electric car production lines, CNBC reported.