NEW YORK, April 20 Reuters Stocks on Wall Street fell for a second straight day on Tuesday as a global spike in coronavirus cases hit travelrelated shares and investors had second thoughts about big U.S. banks apparently stellar earnings last week.

Kansas City Southern surged on the prospect of a bidding war after Canadian National offered about 30 billion for the U.S. railroad, some 5 billion more than an earlier offer from Canadian Pacific.

Boeing Co slid on the unexpected departure of its finance chief, the latest shock to hit the planemaker as it fights to recover from the pandemic and 737 MAX crisis.

Investors piled into defensive sectors considered relatively safe during times of economic uncertainty, lifting real estate , utilities, consumer staples and healthcare as financials and energy shares fell hard.

Shares of airline operators and cruiseliners including JetBlue Airways, American Airlines, Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Corp, which were hammered last year during lockdowns but have climbed recently on the reopening hopes, fell around 5.

Some of the recent optimism about the leisure industry has waned as the reopening might take a bit longer than initially thought, said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.

Were not out of the woods yet when it comes to the COVID virus and getting to where global economies are reopening, he said. Some of that enthusiasm has diminished.

A leading epidemiologist at…