S&P 500 Index Falls 40 Points: Worst Day Since June as Surge in Unemployment Claims, Coronavirus Cases Sends Apple, Tesla, Microsoft Stocks Down Sharply

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) lost 40.4 points, or 1.2%, on July 23, breaking a streak of positive days in the second half of the month. Today's sell-off came after the Department of Labor reported that 1.42 million people filed for unemployment last week. That's 100,000 higher than the prior week, and 56,000 higher than the four-week average. 

Cases of COVID-19 continue to surge higher, a factor that's likely weighing on the jobs market. More than 70,000 new cases were reported yesterday, along with almost 1,100 new deaths. Almost 1.1 million new cases and 12,250 deaths have been reported in July, according to the World Health Organization, and many areas are backing off from prior business reopenings as hospitals face pressure to manage the rapidly growing number of cases that require hospitalization. 

Image source: Getty Images.

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Source Fool.com