US equity markets slumped as European governments imposed new lockdowns to contain an autumn wave of the pandemic and as the U.S. case surge shows no signs of abating (with the 7-day rolling average of new daily cases remained above 71,000 on Monday (26 October), well above the July peak of about 67,000, according to Johns Hopkins University data) - Dow fell for a fourth straight session, tumbling -943-points or -3.43% - its steepest one day decline since 11 June. Microsoft Corp (down -5.1%) recorded the steepest decline of the Dow constituents. Travelers Cos Inc (up +2%) was the only Dow member to advance. The Dow has now suffered its longest losing streak since 28 February, 2020 when the market fell for seven straight trading days, according Dow Jones Market Data. Exxon Mobil Corp (down -3.81%) kept its fourth-quarter dividend flat at US$0.87c per share, signalling it expects coming cost-cutting will allow it to continue making the hefty payout. The broader S&P500 -3.53%, with Information Technology (down -4.33%), Energy (-4.22%) and Communications Services (-4.03%) all down over >4% and leading all eleven primary sectors into the red. ~97% of the companies in the S&P500 closed lower. It marked the sixteenth time this year that the S&P 500 has fallen by at least 3%, tying with the year-to-date total for 2008, when the last big recession began. The Nasdaq dropped -3.73% ahead of a host of Big Tech company earnings tonight AEST including Google-parent Alphabet Inc (down -5.46%), Amazon Inc (-3.76%), Apple Inc (-4.63%), Facebook Inc (-5.51%) and Twitter Inc (-5.34%). Separately, the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) CEOs from Alphabet, Facebook and Twitter appeared before Congress overnight to testify about Section 230, a law that protects the platforms from liability for the content users post. All components of the Nasdaq 100 declined with the exception of Automatic Data Processing Inc (up +6.20%). Both the S&P500 and Nasdaq joined the Dow in erasing their month to data gains.