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Investing.com – The Dow plunged on Thursday, as a slump in oil triggered a sea of red across Wall Street, prompting investors to pull their bearish bet on large-cap tech stocks.
The Dow fell 2.41%, or 570 points, theS&P 500 slipped 2.9% and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.24%.
Worries over a storage squeeze amid a collapsed in fuel demand sent oil prices sharply lower for the second day in a row, pressuring energy stocks.
“The EIA reported in October that storage capacity was around 426.5 (million barrels) and was 55% full. Using inventory since then, we calculate that capacity utilization has risen to over 81%,” ANZ Research said in a note.
The plunge in oil prices soured investor sentiment with tech, in particular FANG stocks, bearing the brunt of the selling ahead of earnings from Netflix after the closing bell.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) were down more than 3%, while Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) was down about 2%.
Also weighing on tech, IBM (NYSE:IBM) fell 4% after the company pulled guidance and reported quarterly revenue that missed expectations due to the impact from the coronavirus pandemic.
But some Covid-19 hotspots worldwide, including Italy and New York, offered a glimmer of hope amid encouraging data showing the lockdown measures continued to flatten the curve of infection.
Italy reported a record 2,723 recoveries, while New York Governor Andew Cuomo reported 481 deaths in New York state overnight, but total hospitalizations were “basically flat” and the number of intubations declined.
Cuomo is set to meet President Donald Trump to discuss testing issues and the role of the federal and state governments in the screenings for the coronavirus, at a time when some states are set to reopen for business as early as this week.
Governors from Georgia and South Carolina announced they’ll lift lockdown restrictions this week.
On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, lawmakers continue to discuss the next wave of stimulus, which will include $250 billion to top up the small business lending program.
