US stock indexes open lower on renewed concerns over variant

Associated Press

Stocks are opening lower on Wall Street after the head of a major vaccine maker expressed concern about how effective current jabs will be against the new variant of the coronavirus. The S&P 500 gave back 0.6%, the Nasdaq slipped 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%. European markets were also modestly lower. The weakness came after the head of Moderna told the Financial Times that he expected that current vaccines would struggle with the omicron variant. Treasury yields fell as investors sought to reduce their exposure to risk, and crude oil prices, which depend on a strong economy, slumped 3.9%.