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Investing.com – The Dow fell Wednesday as the recent reprieve in tech appeared to be short-lived, while positive vaccine news and President Donald Trump’s move to ease fears of a second lockdown did little to improve sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.36%, or 371 points. The S&P 500 was down 1.68%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.28%.
Tech gave up some gains this week, paced by a 3% decline in Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), fell 2%, and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) down 1.7%.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), meanwhile, fell more than 10% even as chief executive officer Elon Musk provided an update on full-year delivery targets. Musk forecast vehicle deliveries to increase by 30-to-40% on last year’s 367,500 vehicles, implying between 477,750 and 514,500, largely in line with a previous estimate to roll out half a million cars this year.
Energy fell about 2%, adding to downside momentum in the broader market despite U.S. oil prices turning positive on data showing crude inventories fell by a less-than-expected 1.639 million barrels last week.
Industrials slipped into the red, though losses were less than that of the broader market thanks to a rally in Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR) and Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL).
The volatile week for stocks seen so far this week comes as fears over new lockdowns mount amid a resurgence in the coronavirus. Trump, however, said the U.S. would not be implementing a second lockdown.
Against the backdrop of rising infections, drugmakers continued to ramp-up efforts on the vaccine front. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) entered the final stage of clinical trials for its potential single-shot coronavirus vaccine, sending its shares 0.7% higher.
In consumer discretionary, Nike (NYSE:NKE) was the standout performer, rallying 9% after the sportswear giant delivered better-than-expected first-quarter earnings thanks to a surge in online sales. “In all, Nike posted a large Q121 beat as the outlook moves higher & is likely conservative in our view with further upside opportunities,” Wedbush said in a note.
In other news, The Wall Street Journal reported talks between Nikola and its partners to build hydrogen-refueling stations stalled amid allegations from short-seller Hindenburg that it misled investors. Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) was down 20%.
