Stocks expected to tumble amid fears of coronavirus second wave

US stocks were poised to sink Monday as fears about a second wave of the coronavirus rattled Wall Street.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 641 points, or 2.5 percent, to 24,895.00 as of 7:08 a.m. after several US states reported spikes in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. Futures linked to the S&P 500 were recently off 2 percent, while Nasdaq futures were down about 1.6 percent.

The drops put Wall Street on pace to continue last week’s losses amid concerns about new cases of the virus in the US and abroad, which could jeopardize the economic reopening that had helped fuel the market’s recent rally.

“The secondary virus outbreak that appears to be dotting the global landscape is frightening the bejeebers out of investors around the world today,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at AxiCorp.

Nine US states have seen record numbers of new coronavirus cases in recent days and four hit new highs for hospitalizations on Saturday. Dozens of new cases have also emerged since late last week in Beijing, which went almost two months without any reported infections.

The virus fears have taken the steam out of the market’s rapid rally since March, fueled by optimism about the economic recovery from the pandemic, as well as aggressive stimulus efforts from central banks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite hit an all-time high last week before a Thursday selloff that marked Wall Street’s worst day since mid-March.

“How deep this correction could run, is entirely dependent on the evolution of primary and secondary COVID-19 outbreaks around the world,” OANDA senior currency analyst Jeffrey Halley said in a commentary.

Wall Street was due to follow international markets lower on Monday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index finished down 2.1 percent, while the Nikkei 225 in Japan closed 3.4 percent lower. London’s FTSE 100 was off 1.1 percent as of 7:08 a.m.

With Post wires