NEW YORK, Nov 27 ― Covid-19 has resurfaced as a worry for investors and a potential driver of big market moves after a new variant triggered alarm, long after the threat had receded in Wall Street's eyes.
The new strain may also complicate the outlook for how aggressively the Federal Reserve normalises monetary policy to fight inflation. Before yesterday, broader vaccine availability and advances in treatments made markets potentially less sensitive to Covid-19. The virus had dropped to a distant fifth in a list of so-called “tail risks” to the market in a recent survey of fund managers by BofA Global Research, with inflation and central bank hikes taking the top spots.
US officials said yesterday they would impose travel restrictions on eight southern African countries in response to the new variant found in South Africa. It has also been reported in Israel and Belgium. “This set the kindling for sellers to push markets lower and the latest Covid news appears to have stoked that bearish flame,” he said.
One of several wild cards is whether virus-driven economic uncertainty will slow the Federal Reserve's plans to normalise monetary policy, just as it has started unwinding its US$120 billion a month bond buying programme.
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