Wall Street was in a frenzy on Black Friday as stocks around the world tumbled in the face of a new Covid-19 variant.
US equities took a dive at the open and continued their downward path, resulting in a terrible day for the stock market and the worst day for the Dow in over a year. Oil prices were also badly hit.
The new variant has been detected in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel, prompting some countries to put flight bans in place.
Over the summer, the Delta variant spooked consumers and weighed on sectors like leisure and hospitality. Now investors and economists worry this new variant could do the same.
The Dow (INDU) logged its worst performance since October 2020, falling 905 points, or 2.5%. The S&P 500 (SPX) hadits worst day since February, closing down 2.3%. For the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) it was the worst day since September. The index finished down 2.2%.
It was a shortened trading session that ended at 1pm ET after the markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. Traditionally, this half-day session is lower in trading volume, which can exacerbate the swings in the market.
