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Dow futures slide more than 500 points as market worries mount

Last Updated: Dec. 20, 2021 at 2:15 a.m. ET First Published: Dec. 19, 2021 at 10:53 p.m. ET

By

Mike Murphy

Crude prices also fall as omicron and central bank moves weigh on investors’ minds

People walk by the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 13.

Getty Images

U.S. stock-index futures fell Sunday night, following a losing week on Wall Street amid worries about politics, Fed policy and the fast-spreading omicron variant of COVID-19.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, -1.74% slid about 500 points, or 1.5%, as of 2 a.m. Eastern. S&P 500 futures ES00, -1.77% were down 1.5%, or 68 points, while Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, -1.75% slid 1.5%, or more than 200 points. Oil prices also sank, with front-month West Texas intermediate crude CL.1, -5.17% falling $2.82 a barrel, and Brent crude BRN00, -4.53%, the global benchmark, similarly off.

The Dow DJIA, -1.48% dropped more than 500 points, or 1.5%, on Friday, and the S&P 500 SPX, -1.03% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.07% following it lower. For the week, the Dow lost 1.7%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.9% and the Nasdaq tumbled 3%.

Last week’s losses came as investors weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish pivot, speeding up its reduction of monthly bond purchases and predicting three interest-rate hikes next year.

Markets also tumbled after President Joe Biden’s signature $2 trillion spending plan appeared doomed as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said on Sunday that he cannot support it — potentially handing Biden and Democrats a major political loss. Goldman Sachs downgraded their U.S. growth forecasts for 2022, citing difficulties in getting the spending bill passed.

Meanwhile, new COVID-19 cases are growing sharply in many parts of the world, fueled by the rapid spread of omicron. Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he expects record cases of COVID-19 this winter, and urged people to get vaccinated and get boosters.

Wall Street has a shortened week coming up, with markets closed Friday for the Christmas holiday.

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