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Stocks Fall as Wall Street Confronts Risks to Record Rally
Stocks fell Monday and Wall Street came off last week's record highs as investors worried fresh political and economic risks and a resurgence in the coronavirus could dent recent market gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 143 points, or 0.46%, to 30,945, the S&P 500 fell 0.57% and the Nasdaq was down 0.97%
Boeing fell 3% after a Boeing 737-500 passenger plane operated by Sriwijaya Air crashed Saturday into the sea off the coast of Indonesia after taking off from Jakarta. The plane, a 737-500 aircraft, was much older than the Boeing 737 MAX that was grounded in March 2019 after two fatal crashes.
Stocks finished at record highs Friday as investors assessed expectations for more economic stimulus following a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report. The U.S. lost 140,000 jobs in December, putting an end to seven months of employment growth.
For the week, the Dow rose 1.6% - the blue-chip index's fourth-straight weekly gain - the S&P 500 added 1.8% and the Nasdaq gained 2.4%.
Last week's gains were fueled by hopes that President-elect Joe Biden would support an economy racked by the coronavirus pandemic with more fiscal stimulus. Biden said he would lay out his proposals for further fiscal support on Thursday.
Stock market gains also have been driven by optimism over the rollout of coronavirus vaccines even as infections continue to surge and scientists discover new variants of the virus.
Meanwhile, as Donald Trump begins his final full week in office, calls have been growing for him to step down following the storming of the Capitol Building last week by his supporters, and Democratic lawmakers were moving closer to starting a second impeachment of the president.
Twitter declined Monday after the social media platform permanently banned Trump, citing concerns that Trump's accounts could be used to incite more violence.
Investors also were preparing for the start of fourth-quarter earnings season. Big banks such as JPMorgan Chase , Citigroup , Wells Fargo , BlackRock and PNC Financial will be issuing earnings reports at the end of the week.
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Bitcoin, meanwhile, suffered its worst two-day drop since March as investors moved to other perceived safe-haven assets.
This article was originally published by TheStreet.