It’s actually surprising that markets aren’t down more so far today.
As of noon New York time, the Standard & Poor’s 500 is lower by 1.62% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1.75%. The NASDAQ Composite has lost 1.65% and the NASDAQ 100 has dropped 1.34%. The small cap Russell 2000 has tumbled 2.43% and the iShares Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) has fallen 1.85%.
No place to hide. (Well, maybe big drug company stocks.)
The problem today is that the market has suddenly started to think that the new Omicron Variant of Covid-19 might, just might, slow the global economy.
And that West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan quite possibly means no big spending on Climate Change initiatives. And no stimulus for the U.S. economy. Over the weekend Goldman Sachs slashed its GDP forecasts for 2022. The Goldman economists said they expected the “fiscal impulse will be somewhat more negative” than previously expected next year, in absence of the spending on social and climate-related policies included in Build Back Better. Goldman lowered its U.S. GDP forecast to 2% from 3% for the first quarter of 2022, to 3% from 3.5% for the second quarter, and to 2.75% from 3% for the third quarter.
And that the election of a left-wing government in Chile might mean higher restrictions on lithium mining.
And that China’s real estate debacle doesn’t look like it’s hit bottom. Shimao Group Holdings agreed to sell stakes in a Hong Kong development at a loss while Sunac China Holdings unloaded assets in Shanghai as developers rushed to rate cash. An index of Chinese real developers fell for the sixth day in seven, led by Sunac, which posted a record one-day decline of 18%.
The damage looks even worse widespread if you look at individual stocks.
Economically sensitive stocks dropped. Macy’s (M) lost 5.40%. Disney (DIS) fell 2.10%.
“Green” stocks got pummeled. Electric charging stocks EVGO (EVGO) and Charepoint (CHPT) lost 6.66% and 4.31%, respectively. Solar stocks dropped even harder with SolarEdge (SEDG) down 9.11%, Enphase (ENPH) off 7.28%, and SunRun (RUN) falling 8.00%
Chile’s big state-owned lithium producer SQM (SQM) fell 15.01% and Albemarle (ALB) lost 4.12%.
Chinese stocks traded in New York got walloped again with Alibaba (BABA)dropping 6.37% and JD.Com falling 4.97.
Big drop stocks were up, in general with Pfizer (PFE) gaining 2.40%, AbbVie (ABBV) ahead 1.23%, and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) higher by 0.10%.
Technology stocks sold off in the general mayhem, although in context the damage was mild, with Apple (AAPL) down 1.28%, and Nvidia (NVDA) lower by 1.24%.
I wouldn’t be surprising to see selling accelerate as we near the close. On heavy bad news days, investors and traders frequently decide not to hold overnight.
