A new variant of the virus broke out in South Africa, causing market panic. The US stock market opened sharply on Friday (26th). Dow Jones plunged by 800 points. Before the deadline, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 780 points or 2%, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.2%, the S&P 500 Index fell 1.5%, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 1.7%, and the VIX Panic Index soared 38%.
Faced with the menacing mutant virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) will hold an emergency meeting on Friday. Scientists said that this new variant named “B.1.1.529” was first seen in Botswana, South Africa. The spike protein contains 32 mutations and is more infectious than Delta virus.
In order to prevent the risk of the spread of the virus, many countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Singapore have sacrificed entry and exit restrictions on Friday, and travel and aviation stocks collectively fell to the ground after the opening of the market. Before the deadline, United Airlines (UAL-US) fell more than 9%, American Airlines (AAL-US) fell 7.7%, and Royal Caribbean Cruises (CCL-US) and Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCHL-US) both fell more than 9%.
Home epidemic prevention concept stocks and vaccine stocks generally rose. Before the deadline, Zoom (ZM-US) rose by 8.4%, Netflix (NFLX-US) rose by 2.2%, BioNTech (BNTX-US) and Modena (MRNA-US) both rose by more than 15%, and Pfizer (PFE-US) Up 5.4%.
Concerns over demand for new variants of the virus have also dragged down oil prices. Before the deadline, Brent crude oil futures fell 7.3%, WIT crude oil futures fell 6.6%, and oil stocks such as Chevron (CVX-US) and Exxon Mobil (XOM-US) fell.
With the rapid cooling of risk sentiment, funds poured into U.S. Treasuries. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell to 1.533%. The fall in the U.S. dollar drove gold prices to rise.
No major economic data was released on Friday. As it coincides with the Thanksgiving holiday, US stocks will close today at 1:00 am Taipei time on Saturday (27th) 3 hours earlier today.
As of 22 o’clock on Friday (26th) Taipei time:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 780.91 points or-2.18%, temporarily reporting 35023.47 points
- The Nasdaq Composite Index fell by 195.90 points, or-1.24%, to 15649.66 points temporarily
- The S&P 500 Index fell 71.75 points, or -1.53%, temporarily at 4,629.71
- Fees and a half fell 65.92 points or-1.70%, temporarily reported 3802.93 points
- TSMC ADR drops 2.23% to US$118.05 per share
- 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 1.529%
- New York Light Crude Oil fell 7.31% to US$72.66 per barrel
- Brent crude oil fell 6.62% to US$76.84 per barrel
- Gold rose 0.93% to $1800.90 per ounce
- The dollar index fell to 96.25
Focus stocks:
Didi (DIDI-US) fell 6.91% to US$7.55 in early trading.
Bloomberg quoted people familiar with the matter as reporting that in order to prevent sensitive data leakage, Chinese regulators required Didi’s management to formulate a plan for delisting from US stocks, including privatization or a secondary listing in Hong Kong.
Boeing (BA-US) fell 6.46% in early trading to $197.00.
According to Canadian media reports, Boeing has been excluded from the fighter contract competition by the Canadian government because its products do not meet the required standards. This represents the remaining competitors in the current contract, and only the American arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin and the Swedish Saab Group are left. (Saab AB).
Merck (MRK-US) fell 3.71% in early trading to $79.23.
Merck cited the latest test data on Friday to show that its experimental Covid-19 antiviral oral drug can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death of infected patients by 30%, which is less than 50% of the results of the interim trial. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to publish its opinions on Merck’s antiviral oral drug and make a review decision on Friday.
Today’s key economic data:
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Wall Street analysis:
Neil Shearing, chief economist at Capital Economics, believes that it is too early to start talking about the impact of new variants on the global economy. Restrictions, not the virus itself, so the key lies in how governments respond to the spread of the virus.
Shearing emphasized that countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have learned to coexist with the virus, so compared to other regions, these countries are much less likely to restart restrictive measures.
Alvin T． Tan said that the worries about the new variants have caused traders to reduce their risk positions. In addition, since the U.S. coincides with the Thanksgiving holiday, market liquidity is thin, and risk aversion has been amplified.
IG Markets Ltd analyst Kyle Rhoda also said that the news of the new variant virus in South Africa may cause subconscious reactions from traders. In addition, the US stock market closure means that market liquidity is thin, which will amplify market volatility.
