Investors focussed on news that some US states had re-instituted lockdown restrictions. Shares in Novavax rose 31.6% after being awarded a US$1.6 billion government contract to test, manufacture and commercialise a COVID-19 vaccine. The Dow Jones index fell by 397 points or 1.5% to near session lows. The S&P500 index fell by 1.1%. The Nasdaq index was lower by 90 points or 0.9%.