US stocks drop amid coronavirus concerns

New York

US stocks fell on Tuesday as market sentiment was dampened by a resurgence in coronavirus infections in the country.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 396.85 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 25,890.18. The S&P 500 fell 34.40 points, or 1.08 per cent, to 3,145.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 89.76 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 10,343.89, Xinhua reported.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors finished lower, with energy down 2.01 per cent, leading the laggards.

Meanwhile, US-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower, with six of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P US Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

Stocks closely tied to economic reopening, such as those of airlines and cruise lines, declined amid the soaring number of coronavirus cases in the country.

More than 2.96 million confirmed Covid-19 cases have been reported in the United States, with nearly 131,000 deaths, as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.