Stocks Drop After a Recovery Period

The duo of the yet undecided U.S. election and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic halted the rise of global markets. Investors seemed wary of holding assets, seeing the weekend as a risky period. Before the stoppage, Wall Street was on a four-day streak, gaining value each day. That set U.S. indexes en route for the best per-week returns since the ones in April.

However, the possibilities for that ended when Dow Jones Industrial Average industrials ended 0.9% lower, S&P finished 1% off, and Nasdaq Composite futures dropped 1.2% in early trading.

The phenomenon wasn’t exclusive to the U.S. market, as Europe had a similar thing occur. Stoxx Europe 600, for example, fell by 0.8%. Asia had a slightly more positive closing, as Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 showed a growth of 0.9%. On the other hand, China finished even, with CSI 300 not showing movement in either direction.

It seems as if the ongoing U.S. election is at the forefront of investors’ minds. However, who ends up as president is not the only concern, as employment levels and the economy’s general state are both worrying. The picture seems to be improving, as early Friday numbers depicted the opening of 638,000 job positions.  Meanwhile, a MarketWatch survey predicted the number would be around 530,000.

As is expected, the private sector is currently doing much better than the public one, with 906,000 jobs added in the former compared to the 268,000 loss in the latter. After the total tally, the unemployment rate fell to 6.9%.

As for specific firms, Peloton was one to take a significant and unexpected tumble. The workout gear company is still seeing quite high demands as at-home exercise gains traction. However, the group admitted to supplying issues that only seem to be getting worse over time. Zillow, on the other hand, saw massive success, reporting its biggest profit on record.