Stocks close with losses as Wall Street watches for stimulus progress

Stocks closed with losses Monday amid mounting concern that negotiations to reach a bipartisan stimulus deal before Election Day may fail to meet a 48-hour deadline set by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Monday with a loss of more than 410 points, falling 1.4 percent on the day. The Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 each fell roughly 1.6 percent.

The market seesawed throughout Monday after a week of losses driven primarily by the narrowing window to strike a coronavirus relief deal before Nov. 3. 

Pelosi on Sunday gave the White House until Tuesday to resolve several Democratic issues with the administration’s $1.8 trillion offer. In a Sunday evening letter to fellow Democrats, she cited concerns with the White House’s proposed national testing program, a lack of expanded tax credits for children, funding for state and local governments, and child care provisions.

Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke for nearly an hour Monday afternoon, according to Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill, and “continued to narrow their differences.”

“The Speaker continues to hope that, by the end of the day Tuesday, we will have clarity on whether we will be able to pass a bill before the election. The two principals will speak again tomorrow and staff work will continue around the clock,” Hammill said.

Striking a deal on Tuesday would give Congress less than two weeks to pass the measure and send it to President Trump before Election Day. A failure to approve another round of stimulus by then means that 25 million struggling families, thousands of nearly bankrupt businesses and cash-strapped local governments will spend at least three months without aid.