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This post may refer to COVID-19

This post may refer to COVID-19

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Dow futures tank as new COVID variant in South Africa stokes concerns
nypost.com

Dow futures tank as new COVID variant in South Africa stokes concerns

Concerns over the new COVID-19 variant discovered in South Africa hammered stock markets across the world Friday, sending all three of the major US indices down at least 1 percent.

Business

Concerns over the new COVID-19 variant discovered in South Africa hammered stock markets across the world Friday, sending all three of the major US indices down at least 1 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures tanked more than 800 points Friday morning as investors abandoned bets on the global economic recovery and piled into the basket of stocks that surged during the depths of the pandemic. The index was last seen more than 2.25 percent lower in premarket trading.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were hit less hard, but still deeply in negative territory in premarket trading. Both indices were last seen more than 1.8 percent and 1.1 percent lower, respectively.

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The US sell-off comes after markets in Europe and Asia saw similar drops as investors around the world were jilted by warnings coming out of Africa about a new, potentially more infectious variant of COVID-19 that could be resistant to vaccines.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell more than 2 percent in Friday trading and Europe’s STOXX 600 index was down 2.7 percent in mid-day trading, set for its worst one-day drop in about a year.

Oil prices tumbled, too, with US crude futures down 6.6 percent to $73.20 per barrel, while Brent crude futures dropped by more than $4.50, or 5.6 percent, to $77.55 a barrel.