Wall Street Close: Uncertainty wipes the floor with the bulls
- NASDAQ unofficially closes up 1.20 points, or 0.01%.
- S&P 500 unofficially closes down 19.77 points, or 0.56%.
- Dow Jones unofficially closes down 129.09 points, or 0.45%.
US stocks ended lower on Tuesday as growing uncertainty and overstretched bullish conditions prompted investors to take profits.
At the same time, two clinical trials involving possible vaccines and a treatment candidate for COVID-19 were paused.
When coupled with dying hopes of an economic stimulus package before US Election day, the benchmarks came under pressure.
The first trial reported to be paused came in the Asian session, or late Monday US forex trade, as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) said it suspended trials of its vaccine candidates for the respiratory disease when a participant in the phase 3 study became ill.
Then, midway through the US session, CNBC reported Eli Lilly's (LLY) trial of its antibody treatment for COVID-19 was suspended by US regulators over possible safety concerns.
Shares of Johnson & Johnson lost 2.3%, and Eli Lilly fell 2.9%.
As for US stimulus updates, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter that the White House's latest $1.8 trillion pandemic-relief "proposal falls significantly short of what this pandemic and deep recession demand."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Republican-led U.S. Senate would vote next week on a scaled-down coronavirus economic relief bill.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who had briefly called off coronavirus relief talks last week, told lawmakers "Go big or go home!!!"
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 157.71 points, or 0.55%, to 28,679.81, the S&P 500 fell 22.29 points, or 0.63%, to 3,511.93 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 12.36 points, or 0.1%, to 11,863.90.
Most of the S&P's 11 major sectors lost ground with financials SPF falling most at 1.9%.
S&P 500 levels