U.S. stock indexes opened sharply lower on Friday, with travel, bank and commodity-linked stocks bearing the brunt of a selloff triggered by the discovery of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 437.69 points, or 1.22 per cent, at the open to 35,366.69.
The S&P 500 opened lower by 36.83 points, or 0.78 per cent, at 4,664.63, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 180.85 points, or 1.14 per cent, to 15,664.38 at the opening bell.
