 | | | | Each successive variant of COVID-19 has had a weaker effect on the economy, and if the new Omicron variant discovered in South Africa follows that pattern, it should cause less of a slowdown than what was seen after the Delta variant, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said on Friday. | | | | | | COVID-19 has resurfaced as a worry for investors and a potential driver of big market moves after a new variant triggered alarm, long after the threat had receded in Wall Street's eyes. | | | | | | The World Trade Organization (WTO) became the first major diplomatic casualty of the new coronavirus variant on Friday when it postponed its first ministerial meeting in four years due to the deteriorating health situation, Geneva-based sources said. | | | | | | Oil prices plunged $10 a barrel on Friday, their largest one-day drop since April 2020, as a new variant of the coronavirus spooked investors and added to concerns that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter. | | | | | | Shares tumbled on Wall Street on Friday as they reopened after Thanksgiving, while European stocks saw their biggest sell-off in 17 months and oil prices plunged by $10 per barrel as fears over a new coronavirus variant sent investors scurrying to safe-haven assets. | | | | | | Blue Prism shareholder Coast Capital said on Friday it will not support private equity firm Vista Equity's final takeover offer of 1.22 billion pounds ($1.62 billion) for the British software firm on grounds it undervalues the company. | | | | | | U.S. stocks dropped on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 suffering their biggest one-day percentage drops in months, and pandemic-hit sectors that have benefited from a reopening falling sharply after a new and potentially vaccine-resistant coronavirus mutation was found. | | | | | | Soaring volatility on Wall Street on concerns over a new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa sent investors scrambling into defensive options plays on Friday and boosted the Wall Street's most widely followed fear gauge to a more than two-month high. | | | | | | Peloton Interactive Inc , the exercise bike company, has sued Lululemon Athletica Inc after the athletic apparel maker threatened its own lawsuit over Peloton's new apparel line. | | | | | | Risks of a new COVID hit to economic activity are clobbering expectations for rate hikes next year from the world's major central banks, a potential setback for the dollar and other currencies where wagers had been most aggressive. | | | | | |
