Futures tumble on fears of tighter curbs to combat Omicron's spread

[December 20, 2021]    By Shreyashi Sanyal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures tumbled more than 1% on Monday, dragged by concerns about the impact of tighter restrictions on the global economy, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads rapidly around the world.

Surging global infections from the new variant has sparked worries in financial markets, as many European nations and Britain weigh the possibility of curbs during Christmas.

Travel stocks fell the most in premarket trading. United Airlines dropped 3.4% to lead declines among major U.S. carriers, while a 4% slide in Royal Caribbean Cruises led the fall among cruise operators.

Mega-cap growth stocks extended their fall from the previous session, with Tesla Inc, Apple Inc, Meta Platforms and Microsoft Corp down between 1.4% and 2.2%.

"After battling endless headwinds in recent weeks, markets have finally been knocked over as the rapid spread of Omicron finally reaches panic mode," Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, wrote in a client note.

Denting sentiment further, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin said on Sunday that he would not support President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill.

Goldman Sachs trimmed its quarterly U.S. GDP forecasts for 2022, in response to Manchin's comments.

At 6:12 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 373 points, or 1.06%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 54.5 points, or 1.18%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 214 points, or 1.36%.

Energy and industrial bellwethers also declined, with Chevron Corp, 3M Co and Caterpillar Inc falling over 2% each.

Wall Street's main indexes ended lower on Friday as market participants digested the Federal Reserve's decision last week to end its pandemic-era stimulus faster.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)

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