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MW Cruise stocks dive to buck broad market rally after Norwegian extends suspensions

Tomi Kilgore

Norwegian shares lead S&P 500 losers, and investor concerns spill over to airline sector as new COVID-19 cases continue to surge

Shares of cruise operators were hit hard Monday, as they failed to ride the rising tide of the broader stock market after Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. announced an extension of its cruise suspensions until next year.

Investor disappointment over Norwegian Cruise's move, which comes as more countries announce lockdown measures as new COVID-19 cases surge, also extended to most airline stocks.

Norwegian shares $(NCLH)$ shed 4.7% in midday trading, enough to pace all of the S&P 500 index's decliners.

The company said before the open that it was extending the suspension of voyages for another month, including cruises for all three of its brands, through Dec. 31.

Norwegian's cruise brands are Oceania Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

That sent shares of Carnival Corp. $(CCL)$ down 2.8% and of Royal Caribbean Group $(RCL)$ falling 1.6%.

The cruise-stocks selloff comes while the S&P 500 rallied 1.2%, with only 50 of its 505 components losing ground.

Norwegian's announcement may have come as a surprise to investors, considering the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chose late week not to extend its "no-sail order" " to resuming cruise operations.

Meanwhile, Norwegian's move may have also fueled growing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic heading into the winter months, with the U.S. averaging more than 80,000 new cases a day in the past week, up 45% from the average two weeks ago. And as new cases also surge in Europe, a number of countries have enforced new lockdown measures.

Read MarketWatch's latest coronavirus update .

Those concerns are also weighing on airline stocks.

Among the more-active airline stocks, American Airlines Group Inc. $(AAL)$ slid 1.5%, United Airlines Holdings Inc. $(UAL)$ shed 0.6%, Delta Air Lines Inc. $(DAL)$ lost 1.7%, Southwest Airlines Co. $(LUV)$ dropped 2.1% and Spirit Airlines Inc. $(SAVE)$ gave up 0.8%. JetBlue Airways Corp.'s stock $(JBLU)$ bucked the trend, as it tacked on 0.3%.

-Tomi Kilgore; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

$(END)$ Dow Jones Newswires

November 02, 2020 11:45 ET (16:45 GMT)

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