- Wall Street’s main indexes opened sharply lower on Monday.
- CBOE Volatility Index is up more than 10%.
- Energy shares plunge as WTI drops below $35.
Major equity indexes in the US started the first day of the week deep in the negative territory as investors remain worried about a second coronavirus wave hitting the global economy. Over the weekend, reports revealed that several sections of Beijing got shut down due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the city and caused market sentiment to turn sour on Monday.
Energy and financial shares suffer heavy losses
Reflecting the risk-off environment, the CBOE Volatility Index is gaining more than 10% on the day at 40 points.
As of writing, the S&P 500 was down 1.5% on the day at 2,995 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 2% at 25,094 points and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.4% at 6,460 points.
Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, the Energy Index is losing 4% in the early trade. The barrel of West Texas Intermediate is down 4.4% on Monday amid concerns over energy demand outlook and trading at $34.90. Moreover, the rate-sensitive Financials Index is falling 2.7% dragged by a 5% drop in the 10-year US T-bond yield.