US Stocks fall on surging COVID-19 cases

The US stock market finished lower on Friday, 20 November 2020, as concerns about the near-term economic outlook amid a continued spike in new coronavirus cases and continued uncertainty about fiscal stimulus.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 219.75 points, or 0.75%, to 29,263.48. The S&P 500 index fell 24.33 points, or 0.68%, to 3,557.54. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 49.74 points, or 0.42%, to 11,854.97. Over the week, the Dow fell 0.7%; the S&P 500 lost 0.8%; but the Nasdaq index rose 0.2%.

Investors wrestled with fiscal stimulus developments, concerns over a lengthy rollout of vaccines, and a growing number of state-level shutdowns to combat the spiralling COVID-19 pandemic.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he would allow key pandemic-relief lending programs at the Federal Reserve to expire at the end of the year. The move was called "disappointing" by Chicago Federal Reserve president Charles Evans.

News of state-level lockdowns also weighed on investor sentiment. The latest data from John Hopkins University showed nearly 188,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, while the daily death toll topped 2,000 for the first time. The continued surge in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. has raised concerns new restrictions and lockdowns will dampen the economy recovery.

Among Indian ADR, Dr Reddys Labs fell 0.03% to $63.02, Tata Motors fell 2.5% to $11.29, HDFC Bank dropped 0.18% to $66.50, and ICICI Bank declined 0.61% to $12.95. Wipro added 1.4% to $5.06, INFOSYS added 0.54% to $14.91, WNS Holdings added 1.4% to $68.02, Vedanta added 1.79% to $6.25, and Azure Power Global added 5.2% to $31.75.

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