Global markets are taking a hit amidst the worries of a new COVID-19 variant first found in South Africa. With this, even the top stock markets like the Russell 2000, the S&P 100, the NASDAQ 100, the DOW 30, and the U.S. Dollar Index are red.
New COVID-19 Variant Discovered Called the B.1.1.529
According to an article by CNBC, a new variant called the B.1.1.529 was found in small numbers in South Africa, as per WHO officials. In response to this, the U.K. has decided to immediately ban flights from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe.
As seen on TradingView during this writing, most of the major markets are down, with the Bitcoin Index taking the largest hit at -8.41%. Following this is the Russell 2000, which dropped by 3.6% now 3.3%.
Here are the Other Markets that are Down:
- Russell 2000 - down by 3.3%
- DOW 30 - down by 2.20%
- S&P 500 - down by 1.69%
- NASDAQ 100 - down by 0.92%
- U.S. Dollar Index - down by 0.61%
Recovery Stocks Take a Spike Once Again
An article by WallStreetJournal revealed that while a lot of stocks were down, Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax had a significant bump in price. In premarket, Pfizer was able to add 5.3%, with Moderna going up by 8.3% and Novavax by 5%.
Going back to the popular pandemic stocks, DoorDash was able to add 4.6% while Netflix shares were up by 2.1%. Peloton was able to add another 4.4% premarket as the anticipation grows of people spending more time at home.
Black Friday Should be Renamed to 'Red Friday'
An article by Forbes shared a comment made by A.J. Bell's investment director Russ Mould saying Black Friday should be renamed "Red Friday" due to the color of share price screens as the whole world is now fearing the new COVID strain.
U.S. oil has also gone down by 5.1%, while Gold gained 1% and Silver 0.13%. According to Yahoo Finance, this was also paired with low trade volumes due to the Thanksgiving holidays in the United States, which also contributed to the large volatility.
The article notes that there is still no "major economic release schedule" for Friday due to the market closing at 1:00 P.M. E.T. to follow the holiday weekend.
Fear of the New Variant Could be a Catalist of the Market Dip
Yahoo Finance shared that the U.S. stock futures took a slump with global markets now being alarmed due to the newly discovered coronavirus variant in South Africa. This was said to fan concerns of new growth-crushing lockdowns that could follow should this virus spread across the globe as other variants like the Delta variant or the Gamma variant did.
The new variant discovered by WHO included mutations of other variants which includes the fast-spreading Delta variant that exploded during summer. Although without evidence, health officials are worried that the new mutated variant could dilute or even resist the efficacy of vaccines.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
