Wall Street slumps at start of 2021, worries of higher taxes, COVID-19

New York [US], January 5 (ANI/Sputnik): Wall Street began 2021 with its worst loss since November as US stocks sold off on worries about the protracted coronavirus crisis and fear the incoming president Joe Biden might raise corporate taxes if the Democrat party wins control of the Senate and backs his policies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Wall Street's broadest stocks gauge, closed the first trading day of the year down 1.3 per cent at 30,224.

The S&P 500, a barometer for the top 500 US stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, settled at 3,701, down 1.5 per cent. Last year, it gained 15.8 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite Index, which counts on the performance of tech stock giants such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google, led the performance and finished Monday's trade down 1.5 per cent at 12,698.

Stocks fell as a new coronavirus variant, initially identified in the United Kingdom, continues to spread in the United States with New York being the third US state that has identified a case. The US state of Georgia is holding on Tuesday a runoff election for two US Senate seats. If the Democrat candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win, their victory will equalize the party's representation in the Senate with that of the Republicans, allowing Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris a tie-breaking role.

Gaining control of the Senate will give President-elect Biden the opportunity to act true to his pledge to raise corporate taxes. (ANI/Sputnik)