Wall Street plunges with health fears and inflation – archyworldys

by Devik Jain, Ambar Warrick and Sinéad Carew

(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange ended sharply lower on Wednesday, as investors were still concerned about the appearance of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, a first case of which has been confirmed in the United States, the rise in inflation and the policy of the US Federal Reserve (Fed).

The Dow Jones index fell 1.34%, or 461.68 points, to 34,022.04 points.

The larger S & P-500 lost 53.96 points, or 1.18%, to 4,513.04 points.

The Nasdaq Composite fell by 283.64 points (1.83%) to 15,254.05 points.

While it had climbed nearly 1.9% at the start of the day, the S & P-500 declined and ended in the red, like the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq.

A first case of contamination by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was confirmed on Wednesday in the United States, in the state of California. This is a person who returned last week from a trip to South Africa, where this variant was detected.

Wall Street had already ended lower on Tuesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told a Senate committee that the US central bank would consider, at its meeting scheduled for mid-December, an acceleration in the tightening of its programs. ‘asset purchases.

Jerome Powell, who now believes that the term “transient” should be abandoned to describe inflation, said the Fed must be prepared to respond if inflation does not fall in the second half of 2022 as expected.

Small wonder to see volatility as investors take into account big uncertainties, including the lack of information on the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and the latest signals from the Fed, commented Lauren Goodwin, economist and strategist. at New York Life Investments.

However, she said, investors have also reacted to the positive economic data released today, which reminds us that the “economic” and private backbone of the market is “very strong”.

“For many investors, this volatility is an opportunity to buy,” she said.

The monthly ISM survey released on Wednesday shows that growth in manufacturing activity in the United States accelerated in November amid strong demand.

While all eleven major sectors of the S & P-500 were up during the session, most of them turned into the red before the close.

On the value side, Merck made progress after a panel advising the US drug regulator on Tuesday recommended the urgent authorization of oral treatment against the COVID-19 developed by the laboratory.

Salesforce.com fell 11.7% after saying Tuesday it expected a profit for the current quarter lower than Wall Street expectations due to increased competition from rivals including Microsoft.

(French version Jean Terzian)