U.S. stock index futures tumbled more than 1% on Monday, dragged by concerns about the impact of tighter restrictions on the global economy, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads rapidly around the world.
At 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 368 points, or 1.04%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 51 points, or 1.11% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 197 points, or 1.25%.
Surging global infections from the new variant has sparked worries in financial markets, as many European nations and Britain weigh the possibility of curbs during Christmas.
Mega-cap growth stocks extended their fall from the previous session, with Tesla Inc(TSLA.O), Apple Inc(AAPL.O), Meta Platforms(FB.O)and Microsoft Corp(MSFT.O)down between 1.4% and 2.2%.
"After battling endless headwinds in recent weeks, markets have finally been knocked over as the rapid spread of Omicron finally reaches panic mode," Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, wrote in a client note.
Denting sentiment further, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin said on Sunday that he would not support President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill.
Goldman Sachs trimmed its quarterly U.S. GDP forecasts for 2022, in response to Manchin's comments.
Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket:
Moderna, Inc. (MRNA) – Moderna shares jumped 7.2% in the premarket after the drugmaker said a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine increased protection against the omicron variant 37-fold. Amid the spread of omicron, other vaccine makers are also seeing gains with Pfizer (PFE) up 1.4%, BioNTech (BNTX) adding 3.1% and Novavax (NVAX) surging 10.3%.
Cruise line operators – The surge in omicron cases is weighing on cruise stocks, with more pressure after a Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) ship docked in Miami with 48 cases of Covid. Royal Caribbean dropped 2.9% in premarket trading, with Carnival (CCL) down 2.9% and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) falling 3.6%.
Airline stocks – Omicron concerns are also weighing on the airline stocks, with United Continental (UAL) falling 2.9%, American Airlines (AAL) sliding 2.8%, Delta Air Lines (DAL) falling 2.8%, Southwest (LUV) down 2.3% and JetBlue (JBLU) losing 2.2%.
Biogen (BIIB) – Biogen rallied 3.6% in the premarket after announcing it would cut the price of its Alzheimer’s drug Adulhelm by 50% in order to improve access to the treatment.
Cerner (CERN) – The medical records technology provider will announce a deal today to be acquired by Oracle (ORCL) in an all-cash transaction “in the mid-$90s” per share, according to CNBC’s David Faber. Cerner shares jumped 13% Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported the two sides were close to an agreement. Cerner was up another 1.7% in premarket trading.
Canopy Growth Corporation (CGC) – The cannabis producer slid 3.4% in premarket action after Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to “underweight” from “neutral”, citing sales trends that are under pressure across Canopy’s businesses.
Sunrun (RUN) – The solar company’s stock tumbled 9.4% in the premarket following a KeyBanc downgrade to “sector weight” from “overweight.” That follows proposals in California that would reduce “net metering” benefits for solar power customers and reduce incentives to buy such systems.
AT&T Inc (T) – Barclays upgraded AT&T to “overweight” from “neutral,” based on a better broadband outlook for telecom companies than for cable providers. AT&T was up 1.6% in the premarket.
Verso (VRS) – The Ohio-based maker of specialty, graphic and packaging paper will be acquired by Swedish paper producer BillerudKorsnäs in a deal worth $27 per share in cash. Verso surged 32.2% in premarket trading.
Axon Enterprise, Inc. (AXON) – The maker of stun guns and body cameras saw its stock jump 7.3% in the premarket, following a number of stock purchases by company insiders.
Novo-Nordisk A/S (NVO) – The Denmark-based drugmaker saw its shares slide 4.2% in premarket trading after saying supply issues in the U.S. market would leave it unable to meet demand for its weight-loss drug Wegovy.
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