New COVID variant, same old market trends. After news broke last Friday of a dangerous and potentially vaccine-resistant COVID variant, classic stay-at-home stocks that have experienced brutal selloffs late this year jumped, while the rest of the market had its worst day in months.
Despite being down by 34% for the year, shares of Zoom (ZM) popped by 5.7% by the close of Friday’s shortened trading session. Fellow 2020 hero turned 2021 zero Peloton (PTON) rose by 5.6% on Friday, though shares of the at-home fitness company are still down by 69% year-to-date.
At the other end of the spectrum, stocks that have benefitted from this year’s economic reopening were hit the hardest. Shares of Expedia (EXPE) plunged by 9.4%, while Lyft (LYFT), Airbnb (ABNB), and Uber (UBER) all fell by more than 3%.
Why it matters
Friday's market activity was a sign that investors still have faith in the stay-at-home and reopening trades that have become so popular in the last year and a half. It will be interesting to see this week whether Omicron variant fears are strong enough to prolong these fading market trends.
