- US stocks tumbled on Monday amid rising fears of the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
- Also weighing on stocks was Senator Joe Manchin's rejection of President Biden's spending bill.
- Biden's $1.75 trillion social spending bill faces little chance of passage without Manchin's support.
US stocks tumbled more than 1% on Monday amid rising fears of the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, and Senator Joe Manchin's rejection of President Biden's spending bill.
COVID-19 daily cases continue to rise in the US, with the 7-day average hovering around 130,000. But that number could expand considerably over the next two weeks as the holiday travel season picks up.
"Cases might soar to 250,000 to 300,000, maybe 500,000 within a few weeks," Fundstrat's Tom Lee said in a Monday note to clients.
But while Omicron's surge seems inevitable in the US, Dr. Anthony Fauci doesn't expect the US to institute a new set of lockdowns to combat the virus, rather counting on vaccines, new antiviral therapies, and social distancing and mask wearing.
Meanwhile, Manchin's rejection of President Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan means there is now little chance of passage for the social spending bill. That has the potential to hurt the economy, according to Goldman Sachs, who lowered their 2022 GDP estimates due to Manchin's decision.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Monday:
- S&P 500: 4,562.94, down 1.25%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,885.51, down 1.36% (465.67)
- Nasdaq Composite: 14,962.86, down 1.39%
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West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped as much as 3.96% to $67.92 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, fell as much as 3.43% to $71.00 per barrel.
Gold fell as much as 0.39% to $1,797.80 per ounce.