Heavy losses for Wall indicators in the shadow of concerns about the new mutation

The main Wall Street index ended the day with heavy losses on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 losing 1.9% and the industrial Dow falling 652 points, as the shadow of lockdowns returned to the echoes of the warnings of the head of Moderna , Stephan Bancel that existing vaccines against Covid-19 may be less effective against the new Omicron mutation.

Bancell even warned that it would take a few months before pharmacists could make new large-scale vaccines. “We have to wait for the data. But all the scientists I spoke to at the moment have the view that ‘this is not going to be good,'” Bancell told the Financial Times.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also expressed concern about the new coronavirus strain, noting that the Omicron mutation poses downward risks to the economy and heightens uncertainty about the outlook for inflation.

Speaking to the US Senate Banking Committee, President Powell It also left open the possibility that the Fed would withdraw its support measures for the economy earlier than expected in order to bring inflation under control.

The Fed governor said that the central bank will probably discuss at its next meeting in mid-December, the possibility of accelerating the contraction of its bond-buying program and other securities to stimulate the economy.

“Right now, the economy is very strong and inflationary pressures are high. In this context, the appropriate approach is, in my view, to look at the completion of bond markets … maybe a few months earlier,” he said. Powell. “I expect we will discuss this at our next meeting in a few weeks,” he said, warning that inflation may not be a transitional phenomenon.

Indicators – Statistics

In this climate, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 652.22 points or -1.86% and closed at 34,483.72 points, while the broader S&P 500 fell 88.27 points or -1.90% to 4,567.00 points. The technology Nasdaq lost 245.14 points or -1.55% to 15,537.69 points.

On a monthly basis, S&P lost 0.8%, Dow Jones fell 3.7%, while Nasdaq recorded small gains of 0.25%

Of the 30 shares that make up the Dow Jones industrial average, only two closed with a positive sign, with Apple gaining $ 5.06 or 3.16% and closing at $ 165.30 and Merck recording marginal gains 0 , 03% to $ 74.91.

The biggest losses were recorded by Salesforce (-3.97%), Travelers (-3.58%) and American Express (-3.52%). Moderna’s title plunged 4.4%.

At the close of the day, consumer confidence in the US plummeted to a nine-month low in November amid growing concerns about high inflation, with analysts warning of the risk of a further deterioration in the climate due to the new Omicron mutation in the coronavirus.

In particular, the consumer confidence index fell to 109.5 points from 111.6 points in October, according to the Conference Board. This was the fourth drop in the index in the last five months.

It is noted that the average estimates of analysts in a Wall Street Journal poll put the index at 110 points.

At the same time, US house prices continued their upward rally in September, although the pace of growth slowed, according to data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller.

In particular, house prices increased by 19.5% in September from the same period last year, after an annual increase of 19.8% in August, according to the price index at the national level. This is the first slowdown in annual growth since May 2020.

Finally, the price index in 20 major metropolitan areas increased by 19.1% year-on-year in September after rising 19.6% last month. On a monthly basis, the index rose 0.8% in September.