Pretty much all sectors are in red, continuing the sell off started mid last week. Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped about 600 points, S&P 500 down 1.4% and the tec-centric Nasdaq down 1.5%. The small-cap Russell 2K lost 2.4%. The S&P 500 was on track for its biggest three-day drop since May, Bonds fluctuated, while the dollar fell, Oil, Gold and Bitcoin is barely up.
Goldman Sachs reduced their U.S. economic growth forecasts after Democratic Senator Joe Manchin rejected the roughly $2 trillion tax-and-spending Build Back Better (BBB) package.
Another concern for investors is the spread of Omicron. The omicron strain has been found through testing in 43 out of 50 states and about 90 countries. U.S. cases are jumping into year-end, according to CDV, with more than 156,000 reported on Friday.
The sell off in markets is “reflecting growing uncertainty surrounding whether the Omicron surge will bring new widespread economic shutdowns, an unexpected shelving of additional fiscal stimulus from President Biden’s Build Back Better plan, and a breach by the S&P 500 index of its 50-day moving average,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at the Leuthold Group.