US STOCKS-Wall St sinks on tech selloff, recovery worries
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain. Sept 3- Wall Street’s main indexes tumbled on Thursday, heading for their worst day since June as investors dumped high-flying technology-focused stocks, while economic data highlighted concerns about a long and difficult recovery. “Some of the stocks have gotten a little pricey, and what the actual cause is to spark this selloff is…
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* VIX jumps to a seven-week high
* Weekly jobless claims slip below 1 mln
* Tesla drops for the third straight day
* Indexes fall: Dow 2.18%, S&P 2.93%, Nasdaq 4.40%(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Sept 3 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes tumbled onThursday, heading for their worst day since June as investorsdumped high-flying technology-focused stocks, while economicdata highlighted concerns about a long and difficult recovery.
Shares of Facebook, Apple, Amazon.com, Netflix and Alphabet sank between4.6% and 6.2%. The NYSE FANG+TM Index, which includesthe five core FAANG stocks, shed 6.2%, putting it on track forits biggest one-day decline since March 16.
Unprecedented fiscal and monetary support as well asincreasing bets on stay-at-home tech stocks have powered a rallyin U.S. stocks in recent weeks, sending the S&P 500 and Nasdaqto record closing highs on Wednesday.
“Some of the stocks have gotten a little pricey, and whatthe actual cause is to spark this selloff is difficult to say,”said Randy Frederick, vice-president of trading and derivativesfor Charles Schwab in Austin.
“The leading sector for quite a long time has been theNasdaq, which is very heavily weighted in technology stocks sopeople just saw this as an opportunity to take the profits offthe table.”
Earlier in the day, data showed the number of Americansfiling new claims for unemployment benefits fell more thanexpected last week, but remained extraordinarily high. Thegovernment’s closely watched monthly payrolls report is set forFriday.”We’re going to struggle to put people back to work, it’sgoing to be another three to four years and then we have tosustain it,” said Greg Hahn, chief investment officer atWinthrop Capital Management in Indiana.
Separately, a survey showed U.S. services industry growthslowed in August, likely as the boost from the reopening ofbusinesses and fiscal stimulus faded.
Wall Street’s fear gauge crossed its 200-day movingaverage, to hit its highest level in seven weeks.
The technology sector declined 5%, whilecommunication services and consumer discretionarylost more than 3% each.
At 11:34 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Averagewas down 633.96 points, or 2.18%, at 28,466.54, the S&P 500was down 105.09 points, or 2.93%, at 3,475.75. The NasdaqComposite was down 530.39 points, or 4.40%, at11,526.06.
Tesla Inc tumbled 7.4%, falling for the thirdstraight session.
PVH Corp rose 3.6% after the Calvin Klein ownerposted a surprise quarterly profit, boosted by strong onlinedemand for comfortable and casual clothing during thecoronavirus-led shift to work from home.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 3.87-to-1 ratioon the NYSE and for a 4.12-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 18 new 52-week highs and no new low,while the Nasdaq recorded 23 new highs and 38 new lows.(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyurand Sriraj Kalluvila)
