Stocks open lower on Wall Street as virus cases spike

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street, following declines overseas after China reported a sharp spike in deaths and infections from a new virus after the hardest-hit province of Hubei applied a new classification system that broadens the scope of diagnoses. The increase came as a surprise for investors, who had become more at ease because of a recent decline in the daily number of new cases. The S&P 500 fell 9 points, or 0.3%, to 3,370. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142 points, or 0.5%, to 29,417. The Nasdaq lost 47 points, or 0.5%, to 9,678. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 1.62%.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Global shares mostly fell Thursday after China reported a spike in COVID-19 cases. The shock resignation of Britain's Treasury chief further knocked U.K. share prices.

China reported 254 new deaths and an increase in virus cases of 15,152, after the hardest-hit province of Hubei applied a new classification system that broadens the scope of diagnoses for the outbreak, which has spread to more than 20 countries.

The rise came as a surprise for investors, who had become more at ease because of a recent decline in the daily number of new cases. Now questions are being asked about whether the rest of China is reporting the number of infections accurately.

Worries that the recent downtrend in the number of new cases may not be sustained weighed on investors who are worried about the economic impact of the outbreak.

“The new charts of infection rates look much more worrying, and have certainly dealt a blow to the narrative that things were beginning to improve, putting the gains of the past few days in doubt," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.

“The market has...