U.S. stock futures rose late Sunday, following a steep selloff Friday sparked by fears of the global economic impact of a worrisome new strain of COVID-19.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures YM00, +0.72% gained about 230 points, or 0.7%, as of 9 p.m. Eastern. S&P 500 futures ES00, +0.94% and Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, +1.18% also showed solid gains.
Crude oil futures also rebounded Sunday from a Friday plunge, with benchmark U.S. crude CLF22, +5.33% and Brent crude BRNF22, +4.84%, the international benchmark, jumping roughly 4% higher.
On Friday, Wall Street suffered its worst day in more than a year amid growing concerns over the new omicron variant of COVID-19. The World Health Organization’s technical advisory group on Friday declared it a “variant of concern,” and a number of countries imposed flight bans from countries in southern Africa, where the variant was first discovered.
Little is known about omicron, but investors Friday braced for bad news.
Read: U.S. health officials urge caution, but not panic, over omicron variant
In a holiday-shortened session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.53% slumped 905.04 points, or 2.5%, to 34,899.34, with the index logging its worst daily drop since Oct. 28, 2020, according to FactSet data. The S&P 500 SPX, -2.27% fell 106.84 points, or 2.3%, to 4,594.62, and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -2.23% sank 353.57 points, or 2.2%, to 15,491.66.
“The pandemic and COVID variants remain one of the biggest risks to markets, and are likely to continue to inject volatility over the next year(s),” Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer and chief market strategist at Truist Advisory Services, wrote in a Friday note. “It’s hard to say at this point how lasting or impactful this latest variant will be for markets.”
This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.
