Wall Street in the red after fears over new COVID-19 strain trigger selloff

12:15 pm: Coronavirus fears, profit-taking drive markets lower despite stimulus At midday, the Dow fell 114 points, 0.4%, to 30,064, the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 110 points, 0.9%, to 12,647 and the S&P 500 lost 37 points, 1%, to 3,672 points. "Equities are in the red as worries about the health crisis are weighing on sentiment," Madden said. "Yesterday it was announced that US lawmakers agreed upon a $900 billion relief package – discussions have been going on for weeks. The positive news has been overshadowed by fresh health concerns. At the end of last week, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ 100 posted record highs so profit taking has been doing the rounds." Travel stocks are among the most impacted. Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) and United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) each lost at least 2.7%.  10:30 am: Proactive North America headlines: NexTech AR Solutions (CSE:NTAR) (OTCQB:NEXCF) (FRA:N29) CEO acquires more company stock and announces new executive hires Altamira Gold (CVE:ALTA) (FRA:T6UP) (OTCPINK:EQTRF) receives C$500,000 from Mineracao do Para following completion of the Crepori gold project title transfer Aurania Resources Ltd (CVE:ARU) (OTCQB:AUIAF) (FRA:20Q) welcomes Ecuadorian government's new legislation on mineral concessions and their costs Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc (TSE:TBP) (OTCQB:TBPMF) (FRA:JAM1) poised to receive government funding to help develop potential coronavirus treatment ARDS-003 BetterLife Pharma Inc (CSE:BETR) (OTCQB:BETRF) (FRA:NPAU) completes C$10M acquisition of LSD derivative owner Transcend Biodyanmics LLC Marrone Bio Innovations Inc (NASDAQ: MBII) says New Zealand’s largest seed company, PGG Wrightson Seeds to distribute the group's line of Pro Farm UBP Technology products in Uruguay Victory Square Technologies Inc (CSE:VST) (OTCMKTS:VSQTF) (FRA:6F6) wins approval for sale and distribution of rapid 15-minute nasal COVID-19 antigen test for EU Talon Metals Corp (TSE:TLO) (OTCMKTS:TLOFF) (FRA:TAO) looking ahead to 'transformational' 2021 at its Tamarack high-grade nickel project in Minnesota Mawson Gold Limited (TSE:MAW) (OTCPINK:MWSNF) (FRA:MXR)  reports more high-grade gold and cobalt from Joki East prospect in Finland Progressive Planet Solutions Inc (CVE:PLAN) (FRA:ARB3) to begin applying for drill permit in January for Heffley Creek as it unveils positive summer exploration results 9:47 am. Wall Street starts lower The main indices on Wall Street were a sea of red of Monday morning as panic began to spread over a new strain of COVID-19, overshadowing news of the stimulus package recently agreed by US politicians. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.53% at 30,017 while the S&P 500 fell 0.82% at 3,679 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.58% to 12,681. News of a faster spreading version of the virus in the UK has hit sentiment across the board as countries begin closing their borders again to prevent the infection reaching their own populations. Nations including Italy, India, Canada as well as the city of Hong Kong have already closed their borders to holders of UK passport holders. Alongside the new strain in the UK, surging cases of COVID-19 in the rest of Europe and in the US state of California have also caused jitters in the market. “Risk appetite did not stand a chance as the virus rages on in Europe and across California.  Virus cases in the UK are being attributed to a mutation of the virus that allows it to spread faster.  The new virus strain will likely force tighter restrictions across Europe”, said OANDA’s Edward Moya. “The situation in California, the state that has the biggest share of the US economy at over 14%, is out of control.  The last several weeks of limited restrictive measures now have the death toll spiralling higher.  California’s ICU capacity has fallen to low single digits and hospital staff is stretched thin.  The short-term outlook is very bleak, but optimism is still high that by the fall things will closely be back to normal.  Some investors are eyeing every dip, but that doesn’t mean Wall Street shouldn’t expect 3-5% weakness before trading is done for the year”, he added. 8.00am: Wall Street to start lower as jitters over new COVID strain offsets news of stimulus deal US investors are preparing to get their tin hats on as pandemic panic spreads across the globe. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open around 375 points lower at 29,804 while the S&P 500 is on course to shed 52 points at 3,657. The Nasdaq Composite can sometimes be relied upon to rise when the other main indices are heading south but not today; the index is tipped to open at around 12,588, down 168 points. Despite an agreement being reached on a fiscal stimulus bill for the US in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, US investors look set to participate in the global sell-off, which has been sparked by fears that more draconian lockdown measures will be needed to try to curb the disturbing rise in COVID-19 infections. There were 189,000 new COVID-19 cases reported yesterday, down 2,000 or so (1.1%) from Sunday of the week before. In the week through Sunday, the total number of confirmed new cases rose by 0.5% week-on-week. The picture looks less bleak when results from California are stripped out, said Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “Cases in California are now rising faster than anywhere else, with yesterday's 46K increase up an alarming 53% from the previous Sunday. Only 13 other states reported week-to-week increases yesterday, but California is the most populous state in the country so its numbers are big enough to offset the progress being made elsewhere,” he noted. There is little of note scheduled for release in the US today according to the macroeconomics diary. As for equities, Tesla shares were off the pace in pre-market trading, shedding 3.9% at US$667.91 on the first day of their inclusion in the S&P 500. Three things to watch for on Monday: The company results calendar is once again relatively thin in the run-up to Christmas, however, investors may be on the lookout for fourth quarter earnings from aerospace and electronics firm Heico Corp (NYSE:HEI) Investors may also be keeping an eye on the progress of Brexit negotiations across the Atlantic as both sides resumed talks despite missing yet another deadline on Sunday. The outcome of the last-minute talks is likely to cause movement in the value of the pound Additionally, oil prices will be in focus amid concerns that the new strain of highly infectious and subsequent raft of border closures and travel restrictions could dent demand into the new year