Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday that shutting down the economy for a second time to combat the spread of Covid-19 isn’t a viable option and could cause even more headaches for Americans.
His comments came as Wall Street grew more concerned about a second wave of coronavirus cases in the United States. Texas has reported three consecutive days of record-breaking Covid-19 hospitalizations while nine California counties are reporting a spike in new cases or hospitalizations of confirmed cases, AP reported Wednesday.
“And not just economic damage, but there are other areas and we’ve talked about this: medical problems and everything else that get put on hold,” he added. “I think it was very prudent what the president did, but I think we’ve learned a lot.”
The rise cases amid U.S. reopening efforts has made investors nervous that states may have to reimpose business closures to again try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. That pessimism contributed to the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 800 point slide Thursday morning and the S&P 500′s 2.6% loss.
Stocks that would benefit the most under a total U.S. reopening led the way lower, with United Airlines down 10%, cruise operator Carnival losing 8.8% and Gap shedding 6.6%.
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