Stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, giving up solid gains from earlier in the session, after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the country's first case of the Omicron COVID variant. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 460 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both slipped over 1%.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
U.S. confirms first case of highly mutated Omicron variant:
The CDC and White House health officials confirmed the country's first case of the new COVID variant, Omicron, in California, officials said during a press briefing Wednesday.
White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the individual, who was fully vaccinated, had returned to the San Francisco area after traveling from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive with the mutant strain on Nov. 29.
"The individual is self quarantining and all close contacts have been contacted and all close contacts, thus far, have tested negative," Fauci told White House reporters. "We fell good that his patient not only had mild symptoms, but actually the symptoms appear to be improving."
U.S. manufacturing expanded in November:
U.S. manufacturing sector activity increased in November compared to October, according to the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) monthly manufacturing index reading published Wednesday.
November's reading came in at 61.1 for the month, up from 60.8 in October, according to the report. Readings above the neutral level of 50.0 indicate expansion in a sector.
"The U.S. manufacturing sector remains in a demand-driven, supply chain-constrained environment, with some indications of slight labor and supplier delivery improvement," Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM manufacturing survey, said in a press statement. "All segments of the manufacturing economy are impacted by record-long raw materials and capital equipment lead times, continued shortages of critical lowest-tire materials, high commodity prices and difficulties in transporting products."
"Pandemic-related global issues--worker absenteeism, short-term shutdowns due to parts shortages, difficulties in filling open positions and overseas supply chain problems--continue to limit manufacturing growth potential," Fiore added.
Private payrolls expanded at a faster than expected rate in November:
Private sector employment grew at a must more-than-anticipated rate in November, according to ADP's monthly report published Wednesday.
U.S. private payrolls increased by 534,000 in November over October, according to the report, but failed to match October's revised monthly print of 570,000 additions.
"The labor market recovery continued to power through its challenges last month," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, in a press statement. "November's job gains bring the three month average to 543,000 monthly jobs added, a modest uptick from the job pace earlier this year. Job gains have eclipsed 15 million since the recovery began, though 5 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels. Service providers, which are more vulnerable to the pandmeic, have dominated job gains this year. It's too early to tell if the Omicron variant could potentially slow the jobs recovery in coming months."
Here's how market benchmarks started trading after opening bell:
S&P 500 Index: +1.05% or +48.17 points to 4,615.17
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.74% or +254.43 points to 34,738.15
Nasdaq Composite Index: +1.13% or +177.88 points to 15,712.72
