Posted by 
Stocks fell precipitously on Friday, rattled by news of a new coronavirus variant that led several countries to impose travel restrictions.
The Dow, which plunged more than 1,000 points midday, closed 2.5% lower at 34,899 — the worst trading day of the year for the blue-chip index. The S&P 500 dropped 2.3%, its biggest retreat since February, to close at 4,594 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.2%, closing at 15,491.
Investors were rattled by news of a COVID-19 variant, dubbed “Nu” after the Greek letter, detected in five African nations that could be more infectious than earlier varieties. Scientists caution that more data is needed to determine how infectious the variant is and how it holds up against vaccines. The variant, whose technical name is B.1.1.529, in recent days has been detected in Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium, according to media reports.
Source: New feed
