Stocks Plunge on New Fears; Uber-Grubhub Deal Is off the Table

The stock market has waited for some clarity on the economic front for a while, and Thursday morning, it looks as though investors have gotten it -- and don't like what they see. Signs that COVID-19 cases are picking up in some locations threw cold water on the idea of a quick reopening worldwide, and the Federal Reserve's downbeat assessment of how long it could take for GDP to rebound weighed on market sentiment. Just before 10:30 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was down 833 points to 26,165. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) fell 81 points to 3,109, and even the high-flying Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) wasn't able to escape the carnage, dropping 169 points to 9,852.

Consolidation has started to take place in many industries as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, as businesses look for ways to expand their scale and reduce costs through synergies. Ride-hailing service provider Uber (NYSE: UBER) had hoped to find such a solution in its pursuit of food-delivery specialist Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB), but news that a rival bidder snatched up Grubhub with a more attractive offer means that Uber will have to consider other strategies.

Shares of Grubhub jumped 7% Thursday morning on confirmation that a new player has emerged that wants to buy out the food delivery company. After early news reports Wednesday suggested that Uber might have a competing bidder, Just Eat Takeaway confirmed that it will acquire Grubhub in a deal that values the company at $7.3 billion.

Source Fool.com