Dow falls over 500 points to end a volatile week as COVID rates continue to rise in the US

The stock market ended lower on Friday after a volatile week as traders worried about its impact COVID-19 The infection rate continues to climb across the country and continues to spread omicron Type.

Dow Jones The industrial average had fallen 532.20 points, or around 1.5 per cent, till Friday’s close. It fell 1.7 percent overall at the end of the week.

The S&P 500 fell 1 percent, with an overall weekly loss of 1.9 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite lost about 0.1 percent this week after falling 3 percent.

The uncomfortable week comes as the US recorded over 193,000 new COVID cases in the past day and the Omicron variant has been detected in 42 states as of Friday.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also suffered major losses this Friday and last week

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended a volatile week, down 532.20 points on Friday

Wall Street has been in turmoil after a volatile week that ended Friday on further losses

The tech giants took a big hit as Microsoft stock fell nearly 5.5 percent and Alphabet and Apple both fell more than 4 percent this week.

Economic experts said investors are concerned about the spread of the Omicron variant. Nationwide, 42 states have now reported Omicron cases.

The seven-day average positivity rate for the hardest-hit New York City was 4.69 percent, but the positivity rate doubled in three days from December 9-12.

The state posted its highest number of cases in a single day – 21,027 – on Thursday, which officials say is driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

Overall, the US recorded 193,305 new COVID cases on the previous day, with 2,171 new deaths.

This past week, the nation confirmed more than 872,000 new cases and more than 9,000 deaths.

Market concerns also come as the Federal Reserve looks to govern the market to deal with rising inflation rates.

Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group, told CNBC: “With the Federal Reserve becoming more bullish and expecting higher interest rates to rise, investors are reducing exposure to growth stocks.”

‘Typically, growth stocks exhibit longer duration than value stocks because a higher proportion of their cash flows will be received in the more distant future.’

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that tougher measures may be needed to rule out inflation, which is not as ‘temporary’ as he had long insisted.

Consumer Price Index up 6.2 percent in October 2021 from a year ago

In Congressional testimony, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that “the risks of high inflation have increased” and indicated that the central bank may eventually have to act harder to deal with rising prices.

Inflation hit 6.2 percent in October, the highest figure since November 1990, and well above the Fed’s two percent target.

Economists fear the November figures – to be released in the coming days – could rise even higher.

Powell has long insisted that inflation is ‘temporary’ and will soon disappear, and his change in tone has stunned investors, who fear that a quick end to easy money policies will fuel high-flying growth. There will be a loss on the shares.

Last month, the Fed began reducing its purchases of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities by $120 billion a month, which would keep it on track to phase out purchases by mid-2022.

The program was introduced in early 2020 to help nurse the economy through the pandemic.

Powell said in his testimony that policymakers would discuss at the December 14-15 meeting whether to expedite the end of that program in light of the strength of the economy.

This early wind-down would open the door for the Fed to raise short-term interest rates, undermining one of the main reasons for the S&P 500 more than doubling since late March 2020.