5 things to know before the stock market opens Wednesday
1. Wall Street set to bounce after three-session plunge
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday lost 632 points, or 2.3%, and the S&P 500 sank 2.8%. Over the past three sessions, the Dow and the S&P 500 did not suffer losses as steep as the Nasdaq, but they were still off 5.6% and 7%, respectively.
2. Six big tech stocks lost over $1 trillion in rout
Pedestrians walk past the Nasdaq in New York on Sept. 3, 2020 as U.S. stocks plunged.
Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Six of the biggest U.S. tech stocks that fueled Wall Street’s stunning recovery since its March coronavirus lows lost more than $1 trillion in market, combined, in the rout of the past three sessions. Apple, which hit a $2 trillion market cap on Aug. 19, lost about $325 billion in value in that time period. Microsoft lost $219 billion. Amazon lost $191 billion. Google-parent Alphabet lost $135 billion. Tesla, which crashed 21% on Tuesday alone, lost $109 billion in the past three sessions. Facebook lost $89 billion.
3. Tesla tanks but still up nearly 300% this year
Tesla rebounded in Wednesday’s premarket after its worst single-day loss ever. However, shares of the electric auto maker were still up nearly 300% in 2020 as of Tuesday’s close.
Tesla’s dizzying climb this year had it up as much as 500% at $502 per share when it reached all time highs on Sept. 1, the day after its 5-for-1 stock split took effect. Since then, as of Tuesday’s close, the stock tanked 34%, well into a bear market as defined by a decline of at least 20% from recent highs.
4. AstraZeneca pauses late-stage coronavirus vaccine trial
Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Shares of U.K.-based AstraZeneca, while off the worst levels overnight, were still losing about 2.6% in Wednesday’s premarket trading in the U.S., after the drugmaker put its late-stage trial for a potential coronavirus vaccine on hold due one participant’s “potentially unexplained illness.” AstraZeneca, which began its trial late last month, is one of three companies currently in late-stage testing. The two others are U.S.-based Pfizer and Moderna, which both began their Covid-19 vaccine trials in late July.
5. Biden visits state swings where he still holds lead over Trump
Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks on the state of the US economy on September 4, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware.
Jim Watsion| AFP | Getty Images
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden travels to the battleground state of Michigan on Wednesday to propose changes to the corporate tax code that reward investments in U.S.-based manufacturing, and impose new penalties on American companies that offshore jobs. The latest CNBC/Change Research poll of six swing state voters, including those in Michigan, shows President Donald Trump didn’t get much of a convention boost. Biden holds a 49% to 45% lead in those states, little changed from two weeks ago.
