Yesterday, US stock market indexes dropped on the news of first confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.34%, the S&P 500 fell by 1.18%, the NASDAQ dropped by 1.83%
On Wednesday, the Center for Disease Control reported the first case of the Omicron variant in the US. The new strain's high number of mutations could lower the efficacy of existing COVID-19 vaccines.
The stock market was also affected by Jerome Powell's recent statement on inflation. The chairman of the Federal Reserve said inflation could persist for longer than anticipated, and the central bank would consider accelerating the withdrawal of its bond buying program at its December meeting.
Recent ADP non-farm payroll data beat market expectations, with employment rising by 534,000 in November. Economists forecast an increase by 525,000.
The ISM manufacturing PMI went up in to 61.1 in November compared to 60,8 in October. The index was expected to rise to 61.
Several US equities slumped amid the stock index decline. American Airlines Group Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc., and Delta Air Lines Inc. lost 8%, 7.6% and 7.4% respectively.
Shares of Salesforce.com Inc. dived by 11.7% due to a 57% decline in net income in the third quarter, despite sales rising by 27%. The company's profit forecast for the fourth quarter is below market estimates.
Exxon Mobil Corp stock lost 0.1%. The corporation announced its plans to hold spending at $20-25 billion annually until 2027, as well as spend $15 billion on its emission-reduction plan.
Shares of Groupon Inc. fell by 3.3% amid the appointment of Kedar Deshpande, ex-CEO of Zappos, as the company's CEO.
