<p>Wall Street stocks opened lower Monday as worries over a new highly-infectious strain of Covid-19 in Britain offset optimism from agreement on a long-delayed US stimulus bill.</p>.<p>About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6 per cent to 30,009.59.</p>.<p>The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.0 per cent to 3,673.61, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.8 per cent to 12,651.61.</p>.<p>Numerous countries slapped travel bans on Britain after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new restrictions Saturday, blaming the spread of a highly-infectious coronavirus variant.</p>.<p>Worries about the British outbreak blunted the boost from agreement on a $900 billion Covid-19 relief package after months of wrangling between Democrats and Republicans.</p>.<p>Several leading banks were higher after the Federal Reserve on Friday approved share repurchases with some limitations. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America both gained more than three per cent.</p>.<p>Dow member Nike was another early winner, surging 6.4 per cent after reporting much better-than-expected results Friday afternoon after the market close based on strong direct-to-consumer sales.</p>.<p>But Tesla dropped 5.4 per cent after its long-awaited addition to the prestigious S&P 500 index. Shares had rallied aggressively leading into the shift, which took effect Monday.</p>
<p>Wall Street stocks opened lower Monday as worries over a new highly-infectious strain of Covid-19 in Britain offset optimism from agreement on a long-delayed US stimulus bill.</p>.<p>About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6 per cent to 30,009.59.</p>.<p>The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.0 per cent to 3,673.61, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.8 per cent to 12,651.61.</p>.<p>Numerous countries slapped travel bans on Britain after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new restrictions Saturday, blaming the spread of a highly-infectious coronavirus variant.</p>.<p>Worries about the British outbreak blunted the boost from agreement on a $900 billion Covid-19 relief package after months of wrangling between Democrats and Republicans.</p>.<p>Several leading banks were higher after the Federal Reserve on Friday approved share repurchases with some limitations. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America both gained more than three per cent.</p>.<p>Dow member Nike was another early winner, surging 6.4 per cent after reporting much better-than-expected results Friday afternoon after the market close based on strong direct-to-consumer sales.</p>.<p>But Tesla dropped 5.4 per cent after its long-awaited addition to the prestigious S&P 500 index. Shares had rallied aggressively leading into the shift, which took effect Monday.</p>