U.S. stocks fell in a choppy trading session Wednesday, dragged down by news that the first known case of the Omicron variant was identified in the U.S.
Major U.S. indexes started the day on an upbeat note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging nearly 521 points, as stocks attempted to rebound from their post-Thanksgiving selloff. But the rally lost steam in the afternoon after reports that new Covid-19 infections nearly doubled in South Africa Wednesday and that the Covid-19 Omicron variant was identified in California.