US stocks were demolished on Wednesday after the CDC confirmed Omicron’s first US case in California.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 462 points, or 1.3%, giving up gains over 300 points previously. While the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were down 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Me: DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGE VALUES | 34308.84 | +286.80 | + 0.84% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 4530.91 | +17.87 | + 0.40% |
| Me: COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 15184.706244 | -69.35 | -0.45% |
This is because the VIX, the so-called fear index, which measures volatility, climbed to its highest level since March.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VXZ | BARCLAYS BANK PLC TRK ZT 01/23/48 | 07/28 | -0.18 | -0.65% |
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The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released at 2:00 p.m. ET, showed that several regions were reporting supply chain problems and bottlenecks as a potential drag on economic growth.
“Supply chain bottlenecks drove costs up and prices soared,” the statement said.
On the second day of his testimony before Congress, Powell insisted that accelerating the reduction plans would not disrupt financial markets.
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In other business news, ADP’s National Employment Report for November showed 534,000 jobs were created, beating economists’ estimates of 525,000 and slightly less than October’s 571,000. The monthly report for November will be published on Friday.
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Oil prices also fell ahead of the OPEC meeting, where the cartel could decide on production targets following President Biden’s decision to tap into the strategic oil reserve. Crude oil is now in a bear market, more than 20% below its October highs.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USE | UNITED STATES OIL FUND LP | 47.39 | +0.34 | + 0.72% |
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 1.7% to $ 65 a barrel.
ExxonMobil is also in focus after the oil giant announced that it would “double profits and cash flow by 2027 compared to 2019” over the next six years after investing $ 15 billion in greenhouse gas emission reduction projects.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XOM | EXXON MOBIL CORP. | 60.56 | +0.76 | + 1.27% |
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| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRM | SALESFORCE.COM, INC. | 257.69 | +4.99 | + 1.97% |
In equities, Salesforce announced that CEO Marc Benioff will share his role with Chief Operating Officer Bret Taylor, who will become co-CEO. The tech giant also released third quarter results, which showed revenue of $ 6.86 billion – a 27% increase over the same quarter last year. The company’s revenue forecast fell short of analysts’ expectations, however, and stocks are on their way to their worst one-day decline since December 2020, when they plummeted 8.5%.
In other tech news, Apple stocks continue to attract investor interest after rising to a new record despite stocks falling. The stocks, which were higher for most of the session, closed marginally lower.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 159.49 | -5.28 | -3.20% |
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Vaccine makers remain in focus as more information comes in on Omnicron’s impact on the general global economy.
Moderna chairman Noubar Afeyan told FOX Business late Wednesday that expanded testing of vaccines was in the works, including higher booster doses and the implementation of earlier variants.
“We really need to increase immunity to the virus,” he said. “We have to get the greatest possible protection,” he stressed.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRNA | MODERNA, INC. | 303.09 | -7.52 | -2.42% |
| PFE | PFIZER INC. | 54.19 | -0.56 | -1.02% |
| BNTX | BIONTECH SE | 326.47 | -8.01 | -2.40% |
| JNJ | JOHNSON & JOHNSON | 158.27 | +0.09 | + 0.06% |
Home builders move on after a call from Goldman Sachs. Analyst Susan Maklari upgraded Lennar while becoming more cautious about DR Horton.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEN | LENNAR CORP. | 111.34 | +2.82 | + 2.60% |
| DRI | DARDEN RESTAURANTS, INC. | 139.22 | +2.44 | +1.79% |
And Build-a-Bear bucked the over 26% downtrend after the toy maker raised its sales forecast to up to $ 400 million in 2021, above the previous range of $ 375 million to $ 385 million.
| ticker | safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BWW | n / A | n / A | n / A | n / A |
Other economic reports include the ISM manufacturing purchasing managers index in November, which fell to 61.0 from 60.8 in October. For context, a number above 50 means expansion. And construction spending rose 0.2% in October after falling half a percent the previous month.
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Ken Martin of FOX Business and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
