Dow futures tumble over 700 points on fears over new COVID variant detected in South Africa
Source: MarketWatch
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Dow futures tumble over 700 points on fears over new COVID variant detected in South Africa
Last Updated: Nov. 26, 2021 at 5:51 a.m. ET
First Published: Nov. 26, 2021 at 1:38 a.m. ET
By Barbara Kollmeyer
Oil prices slump, gold surges
U.S. stock futures slumped Friday as global markets plunged, after scientists detected a new COVID variant in South Africa that could be the blame for a recent dramatic spike in cases.
Investors are returning to a shortened day of trading following the Thanksgiving Day holiday.
How are stock-index futures trading?
-- S&P 500 futures ES00, -1.66% fell 84 points, or 1.8%, to 4,615
-- Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, -2.20% slumped 789 points, or 2.2%, to 34960
-- Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, -0.91% fell 1.2%, or 193 points, to 16,173
On Wednesday, the Dow industrials DJIA, -0.03% fell 9.42 points to finish nearly flat at 35,804.38. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.23% slipped 0.2% to close at 4,701.46, just 0.1% below its Nov. 18 record close of 4,704.54, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.44% rose 0.4% to 15,84.23.
What's driving the market?
The discovery of the new COVID variant was announced on Friday by South Africa's health minister Joe Phaahla. He said scientists were concerned because of its high number of mutations and the dramatic spike in infections the country had seen over the past four or five days.
Speaking at an online press conference, he said the variant, known as B.1.1.529 and expected to be called the Nu variant, had also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong in travelers who had visited South Africa, he said. The World Health Organization's technical working group is holding an emergency meeting to assess the variant, as scientists aren't sure whether is more deadly or just more contagious.
"The one bull in the China shop that could truly derail the global recovery has always been a new strain of Covid-19 that swept the world and caused the reimposition of mass social retractions," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, at OANDA, in a note. "All we know so far is the B.1.1.529 is heavily mutated but markets are taking no chances."
{snip}
Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-futures-tumble-400-points-on-fears-over-new-covid-variant-detected-in-south-africa-11637908694
I generally don't post threads about "the Dow is up so many points" or "the Dow is down so many points," but this was a big deal on the network radio news this morning.
Tomconroy
(7,611 posts)Has there been any news about Covid?
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,420 posts)Tomconroy
(7,611 posts)twodogsbarking
(9,739 posts)The people with the big money. Crumbs for us.
oldsoftie
(12,533 posts)Not here anyway. And the EU is showing that they're pretty much done with them too.
If the unvaccinated are still the biggest risk the problem will eventually take care of itself. Meanwhile, the vaccine developers will improve on what we've got now. As well as new treatments
LudwigPastorius
(9,137 posts)Not if this new mutation is an "escape variant" that can evade the immunity from a vaccine or previous infection.
oldsoftie
(12,533 posts)But we're simply not going to be able to FORCE everyone to get the shot. And i'd bet 1/2 the people here on DU wont go along with another shutdown either. Not to mention the rest of the population. This shit started 2 years ago. The only way out is better treatments & better vaccines. Its not going away
Lonestarblue
(9,980 posts)The virus will just continue to mutate and cause havoc around the world without mass vaccinations. Perhaps if the US announced a deadline for when free vaccines will be available here and said that all available doses except for a small stockpile would be going to Africa, the deplorables might want the vaccine, if for no other reason than to prevent it going to black people. Knowing they would have to pay to get the shot later might convince a few. The government also needs to stop subsidizing treatment for those with health insurance. Let the insurance companies raise the rates on the insured who refuse to be vaccinated.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,420 posts)Link to tweet
Vaccine makers are jumping on fresh Covid-19 fears while travel stocks are sliding.
twodogsbarking
(9,739 posts)onenote
(42,700 posts)twodogsbarking
(9,739 posts)cadoman
(792 posts)Swings like this aren't strange. Felt like we were up 2% for the week and just gave it back. Doesn't feel like news to me.
onenote
(42,700 posts)The Dow peaked on November 8. Since then it has had far moredown days than up days. It was down around 700 points (not up 2%) from it s peak by the end of the day Wednesday and is now around 1600 points off its November 8 peak.
progree
(10,901 posts)progree
(10,901 posts)France's CAC 40 down 4.3%, Germany's DAX down 3.5%, Bitcoin down 7.4%
https://finance.yahoo.com/
oldsoftie
(12,533 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(57,420 posts){Whoops. I see progree alluded to this over an hour ago.}
They're constantly changing, so I'm not going to attempt posting one or more.
Yahoo! Finance Major World Indices
Scruffy1
(3,256 posts)It looks a lot like several bubbles I have seen in my lifetime. The crazy prices for Tesla and Rivian are examples of a stock bubble to me. With interest rates so low money has to go somewhere. I think a market correction was on its way, anyhow, and the quick drop that a whole lot of investors know they are dealing with an overpriced market.
iemanja
(53,031 posts)IronLionZion
(45,433 posts)there are plenty more out there in other countries that we don't know about.
iemanja
(53,031 posts)progree
(10,901 posts)I can't find the article anymore...
On Edit: but there's this:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html
South Africa: +1,230% in 14 days (recent 7 day moving average compared to 7 day moving average from 14 days earlier), and almost all of that in just 6 days judging from the little minichart.
That's a 13.3 fold increase.
orangecrush
(19,545 posts)They have better access to what's really going on than news organizations.
Hope it doesn't crash..
peppertree
(21,624 posts)So much so, that Repugs are openly celebrating on Twitter as what they see as a likely next big wave of Covid - with all the consequences that follow (economic - and of course political).
Mask up, people.
orangecrush
(19,545 posts)monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)peppertree
(21,624 posts)But we need a statement to that effect from the CDC - and not the blunder like the CDC's 'honor system' statement in May that contributed to the Delta wave in August.
progree
(10,901 posts)Last edited Fri Nov 26, 2021, 11:43 PM - Edit history (1)
I read the numbers off the below graph, so the title numbers se are approximate
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/new-concerning-variant-b11529