By Jesse Cohen
Investing.com - Stocks on Wall Street ended lower on Friday, with the major averages suffering their worst week since March due to worries over a record surge in coronavirus cases and growing nerves over the looming presidential election.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 157 points lower, or 0.6%, at 26,501. At one point, the 30-stock index was down more than 500 points.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 declined 1.2% to end at 3,269 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.5% to 10,911.
For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 fell 6.5% and 5.6%, respectively, to post their biggest weekly losses since the pandemic began in mid-March. The Nasdaq pulled back 5.5% over that time frame and also had its worst one-week performance since March.
The major indexes all posted their first back-to-back monthly losses since March. The Dow lost more than 6% in October, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each declined by more than 5% this month.
The U.S. Presidential Election will be held on Tuesday. The Congressional Elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives will also be held on the same day.
The first exit polls, which are a projection, are expected to come out on Tuesday night at around 7:00PM ET. Results will be declared state by state.
If the outcome is clear, the television networks are expected to make their official call at 11:00PM ET.
Democratic candidate Joe Biden has maintained a sizable lead over President Donald Trump in national polls, although the gap has narrowed slightly as of late, especially in key swing states such as Florida, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
There is a real concern that a delayed outcome could lead to a period of uncertainty and turbulence for markets as well as the economy in the weeks ahead.
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