Dow Jones Futures: Covid Variant Fears Slam Market Rally, Pfizer,

Dow Jones futures will open Sunday evening, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. The stock market rally was hit from all directions last week, with the major indexes tumbling below key levels Friday on the new Omicron Covid variant, with crude oil prices and Treasury yields plunging. Coronavirus vaccine makers such as Moderna (MRNA), BioNTech (BNTX) and Pfizer (PFE) were big winners.

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Is this the start of a significant market slide, the continuation of recent whipsaw action or will stocks quickly rebound? The current uncertainty makes it difficult to navigate the stock market rally. Investors should be playing more defense than offense until conditions clearly improve.

Li Auto earnings are due before Monday’s open. Later next week, Li Auto (LI) and Chinese EV startups Nio (NIO) and Xpeng (XPEV) are likely to release November delivery figures. China EV giant BYD Co. (BYDDF) may come slightly later, with Tesla (TSLA) China sales figures eventually following.

Tesla stock is on IBD Leaderboard and the IBD 50. Pfizer stock was Friday’s IBD Stock Of The Day.

The video embedded in this article analyzed a pivotal market week and discussed PFE stock, Ovintiv (OVV) and Li Auto.

Dow Jones Futures Today

Dow Jones futures will open Sunday at 6 p.m. ET, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures. But Dow Jones and S&P 500 ETFs traded modestly lower after Friday’s market close, while Nasdaq futures fell slightly.

Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.

Join IBD experts as they analyze actionable stocks in the stock market rally on IBD Live

Coronavirus News

A new coronavirus variant with a large number of mutations, first detected in South Africa, is raising concerns. It’s unclear if the B.1.1529 Covid variant, dubbed the Omicron variant on Friday, is more deadly or infectious than prior strains, or whether vaccinations or prior Covid infection provide substantial protection. But health officials are worried. The World Health Organization noted that the Omicron variant appears to have a higher risk of reinfection for people who have already had Covid-19. The WHO declared it a “variant of concern,” the first such designation since the delta variant a year ago.

The U.S., U.K., European Union, Israel and Singapore have suspended flights or entry from southern Africa.

Coronavirus cases had already been ramping up worldwide for the past several weeks, notably in Europe. Austria began a lockdown in the past week.

Coronavirus cases worldwide reached 260.87 million. Covid-19 deaths topped 5.2 million.

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. have hit 49.05 million, with deaths above 799,000. U.S. cases, after picking up for a couple of weeks, appeared to be leveling off shortly before Thanksgiving. Will the holiday travel spur another upsurge in cases? Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. have continued to fall.

Coronavirus Vaccine…