Wall Street joins global slump for stocks on omicron jitters

By STAN CHOE, DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writers

Wall Street joined a worldwide slump for financial markets on Monday amid worries about how badly the omicron variant, inflation and other forces will hit the economy. The S&P 500 fell 1.1%, following up on similar drops across Europe and Asia. Stocks of oil producers fell sharply after the price of U.S. crude fell 3.7%. Markets are also absorbing the potential death blow to a proposed $2 billion spending plan by the U.S. government, as well as the Federal Reserve’s momentous move last week to accelerate its exit from the tremendous support it’s providing the economy.