June 11 (UPI) — After weeks of significant growth, U.S. stocks fell sharply Thursday after the opening bell on Wall Street, mainly due to concern about a rise in coronavirus cases in some states that have reopened.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had been on a remarkable rally since Memorial Day, was down more than 1,000 points by 11:20 a.m. EDT. The blue chip stock index hasn’t seen a single-day loss as great since the height of the COVID-19 crisis April.
The S&P 500 was down about 100 points and the Nasdaq composite was down about 250.
Leading Thursday’s decline were airline and retailer stocks, which had shown growth in recent weeks after parts of the United States began to reopen after weeks of coronavirus closures and restrictions.
Health officials in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and Texas have reported a mild surge in cases recently.
Wednesday, the Dow fell about 230 points after the Federal Reserve announced it would leave interest rates unchanged and forecast a lengthy path for economic recovery.
