Stocks fall and oil prices sink as storm clouds gather
In the US the Dow fell more than 430 points, or 1.2%, on Monday. The S&P 500 was down 1.1% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.2%. All three indexes finished well off their lows of the day. Last Friday, the Dow finished down 532 points, or 1.5%. It was its worst drop in three weeks. The S&P 500 closed down 1%. Both are still sitting on healthy gains for the year so far.
Two factors appeared to be driving Monday’s losses.
Soaring cases of the Omicron variant in Europe and the United States are already slamming businesses and forcing governments to tighten restrictions on activity at a critical time of year for the leisure and retail industries. And the prospects for the US economy dimmed after Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin said he would oppose the Biden administration’s $1.75 trillion “Build Back Better” bill.
“A combination of increasing Omicron nerves, particularly in the UK and Europe, and the failure of President Biden’s spending…
