Wall Street Opens Lower Pullback After Vaccine Rise; Down 340 Pts by Investing.com

By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com – U.S. stock markets opened lower Tuesday, giving much, but by no means all, the gain they made Monday in response to the latest booster shot of good news on the Covid vaccine front. -19.

At 9:40 a.m. ET (1440 GMT), it was down 340 points, or 1.1%, to 29,610 points, having closed Monday at a new high for the first time since the pandemic broke out in February.

The index was down 0.7%, while Tesla (NASDAQ 🙂 shares rose 11.3% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it will include the automaker in its benchmark starting December 21. .

Despite the gains at Tesla, it was down 0.2%.

Confidence was previously affected by the release of figures showing that retail sales increased more slowly than expected in October, just 0.3%. Figures for September were also revised down, reigniting fears that a lack of government support for the large number of Americans unemployed by the pandemic may be fueling demand.

Another headwind came from Washington, where Senate Leader Mitch McConnell noted there would be no more accommodations with House Democrats in the near future than there were before the election, at least on the issue. of fiscal support to the economy. McConnell accused Democrats of holding a virus relief bill hostage.

There were huge losses in pharmacy stock after Amazon (NASDAQ 🙂 announced its plans to fill prescriptions online, more than two years after acquiring PillPack for $ 750 million. Shares of CVS (NYSE 🙂 fell 7.9% and Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ 🙂 fell 8.7% on fear that the online giant could erode what was previously an impregnable market position for them. Amazon shares gained 1.2%, meanwhile, on the prospect of another significant revenue stream and a rich source of customer data.

Elsewhere, shares of Walmart (NYSE 🙂 and House deposit (NYSE 🙂 shares fell despite both companies reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings. Walmart’s earnings per share increased 15% with a 5.2% increase in revenue that was largely due to the 79% increase in sales through its online channel. Its shares were still down 0.5% on concerns that its sales growth was slowing.

Home Depot, a big winner from a pandemic, fell 2.5% amid fears that the end of the pandemic, which has made its way onto people’s radar screens thanks to signs that at least two effective vaccines will be distributed next year, it could also end the incentive to invest in home improvements.