Stock futures moved up earlier in the morning, trading followed by the big sell-off of Friday, with investors monitoring the latest news about the new Covid variant.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average futures went up 208 points, 0,6%
- S&P 500 gained 0.82%
- Nasdaq 100 futures surged 1.07%
Stocks are coming off a session shortened by holiday, with Dow witnessing its worst day since October 2020.
- Dow declined 905 points or 2.5%.
- The S&P 500 dropped 2.35%
- The Nasdaq Composite was down 2.2%
The three major indexes traded in the negative for the week.
The pandemic and COVID variants pose a significant risk on markets and will potentially inject volatility over the next year or coming years. The impact and span of this new variant are hard to describe, according to Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services.
The World Health Organization labeled the new strain as a “variant of concern” on Friday. As scientists continue researching about the variant, the surging mutations of omicron have raised alarms. According to the WHO, the new strain has an increased risk of reinfection considering preliminary evidence.
After first being reported to WHO by South Africa, the new strain was found in the UK, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Italy, and Hong Kong, except for the US. Most countries have banned travel from South Africa, including the US.
Vaccine manufacturers have declared measures to investigate omicron as testing is in the pipeline. It is not yet certain how omicron will respond to current vaccines and if new formulations are necessary. Paul Burton, Chief Medical Officer of Moderna, the vaccine maker, said they could release a reformulated vaccine against omicron early next year.
Key economic data will also be released this week. The November jobs report on Friday is anticipated to have solid jobs growth, 581,00 jobs added in November, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
The economists are expecting strong results from the Institute of Supply Management manufacturing survey, which is to be released Wednesday.