The US stock exchanges had a shorter operation this Friday (26) on account of the Thanksgiving holiday in the country. However, despite the short period, the new coronavirus variant, first identified in Botswana, southern Africa, managed to pull the rates down.
The Dow Jones ended up down 2.53% to 34,899 points (the index lost over 1000 points today), the Nasdaq down 2.23% to 15,491 points and the S&P 500 closed down 2.27%, to 4,594 points. The three indices had the worst session ever recorded on a Black Friday.
At the same time, the so-called Fear Index, the VIX, has risen more than 52% today, with these fears reaching the same level as in February 2021, when the pandemic escalated and led to new lockdowns. The index is used to measure the volatility of S&P 500 stock options.
“The stocks reacted negatively because it is not known how effective the vaccines will be against the new strain and therefore increases the risk of further lockdowns that would lead to an economic impact,” said Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank , to Reuters.
Another move that also pulled the indicators down was the price of oil. At 3:00 pm, Brasília time, the commodity Brent retreated 10.34%, to US$ 73.72 a barrel, heading for its biggest loss in a day since July. At the same time, the WTI fell 11.88%, to US$ 69.08 per barrel.
US investors are looking for safer assets amid the pandemic scenario, thus pushing treasuries yields up. The 10-year treasury this morning has risen to 1.493%.
At the same time, the pessimistic scenario still favors assets considered to protect the amount invested in crisis situations, as they appreciate or vary little in these scenarios, such as gold.
Variant B.1.1.529
The B.1.1.529 variant has a wide range of mutations. In isolation, these mutations can bring advantages to the virus, such as a greater ability to transmit or escape from the immune system.
“What is most striking is that the variant has a large number of variants, there are at least 32”, explains virologist Fernando Spilki, a researcher at the Feevale University, in Rio Grande do Sul, in an interview with CNN.
“These mutations do not mean that we are in a critical situation. we need to test so much in vitro how much in vivo what are the effects of this accumulation of mutations is something that needs to be investigated”, he adds.
The World Health Organization (WHO) special envoy to combat Covid-19, David Nabarro, said it is appropriate to be concerned about the spread of the new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa.
A spokesperson for the organization later warned against the hasty imposition of travel restrictions related to the new variant, saying that nations must adopt a “scientific and risk-based approach”.
Experts say it may still take weeks for the variant’s transmissibility and its effectiveness against vaccines to be determined. Countries in the European Union, the UK and India are among those that have announced tighter border controls as scientists try to determine whether the new strain is vaccine resistant.
*With information from Reuters and Lucas Rocha from CNN
Reference: CNN Brasil
I am Sophia william, author of World Stock Market. I have a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and I have worked as a reporter for several news websites. I have a passion for writing and informing people about the latest news and events happening in the world. I strive to be accurate and unbiased in my reporting, and I hope to provide readers with valuable information that they can use to make informed decisions.
