NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks are pulling back from their record levels Monday, as Wall Street puts a quiet coda on one of its most rocking months in decades.
The S&P 500 was 0.7% lower in afternoon trading after more reports showed how the worsening pandemic is dragging down the economy in the near term. Despite the loss, the benchmark index is still on track for a surge of 10.5% this month as investors latch onto hopes that the economy will get closer to normal next year and strengthen in the long term.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 338 points, or 1.1%, at 29,571, as of 1:16 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.4% lower. Both are also close to their record levels, and the Dow crested the 30,000 level last week for the first time.
Several big forces are behind this month’s surge, beginning with the clearing of some of the uncertainty that had dogged markets leading into the U.S. elections. Now, Democrat Joe Biden is firmly in place as the president-elect in Wall Street’s eyes, and investors have avoided their worst-case scenario of weeks or months of limbo with an unknown winner.
Investors also found encouragement in prospects that Washington will remain under divided political control. Republicans are on track to hold onto control of the Senate if they can win one of two upcoming runoff elections in Georgia. A split government would mean low tax rates and other pro-business policies could remain the status quo.