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U.S. stock-index futures fell Sunday night, following a losing week on Wall Street amid worries about Fed policy and the fast-spreading omicron variant of COVID-19.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
YM00,
slid about 290 points, or 0.8%, as of 10:30 p.m. Sunday. S&P 500 futures
ES00,
were down 1%, or 45 points, while Nasdaq-100 futures
NQ00,
slid 1.1%, or 173 points. Oil prices also sank, with front-month West Texas intermediate crude
CL.1,
falling nearly $2 a barrel Sunday night, and Brent crude
BRN00,
the global benchmark, similarly off.
The Dow
DJIA,
dropped more than 500 points, or 1.5%, on Friday, and the S&P 500
SPX,
and Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
following it lower. For the week, the Dow lost 1.7%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.9% and the Nasdaq tumbled 3%.
Last week’s losses came as investors weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish pivot, speeding up its reduction of monthly bond purchases and predicting three interest-rate hikes next year.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden’s signature $2 trillion spending plan appeared doomed as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he cannot support it — potentially handing Biden and Democrats a major political loss.
Meanwhile, new COVID-19 cases are growing sharply in many parts of the world, fueled by the rapid spread of omicron. Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he expects record cases of COVID-19 this winter, and urged people to get vaccinated and get boosters.
Wall Street has a shortened week coming up, with markets closed Friday for the Christmas holiday.
