Stock futures are skidding this morning amid renewed Covid fears over a new variant found in South Africa. Dow futures are down more than 700 points. The downward moves come after W-H-O officials warned of a new Covid-19 variant. The U.K. has temporarily suspended flights from six African countries due to the variant. Oil prices also tumbled, with crude down more than 6% to $73.24 a barrel.
Travel and leisure stocks are getting hammered. Royal Caribbean and Carnival are the biggest decliners in premarket trading, both down more than 12%. United Airlines, Delta and American are all sharply lower.
Parcel carriers are breathing a little easier over the peak holiday shipping season. FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service may wind up having a much easier time dealing with the holiday crunch than some forecasters predicted, mostly because consumers fearing supply-chain strains have been heading to stores and buying earlier. The carriers have also braced themselves after last year’s frantic holiday period, with capacity in place along with more workers on hand this year thanks to Covid vaccines.
