US STOCKS-Wall Street set to rebound from Omicron-driven rout

Wall Street indexes were headed for strong gains on Monday as investors rushed to take advantage of steep virus-driven losses, while awaiting more details on the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant. All three major indexes slumped between 2.0% and 3.5% on Friday after news of the coronavirus variant triggered a global sell-off, as countries introduced new travel curbs on fears the Omicron variant could resist vaccinations and upend a nascent economic reopening.

Wall Street indexes were headed for strong gains on Monday as investors rushed to take advantage of steep virus-driven losses while awaiting more details on the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

All three major indexes slumped between 2.0% and 3.5% on Friday after news of the coronavirus variant triggered a global sell-off, as countries introduced new travel curbs on fears the Omicron variant could resist vaccinations and upend a nascent economic reopening. U.S. President Joe Biden is due to update the public on the variant and the country's response later in the day, the White House said.

Nasdaq premarket indicators rose the most among their peers, indicating investors were likely favoring pandemic-resistant technology stocks. Travel stocks, among the worst-hit during Friday's sell-off, marked strong premarket gains. Shares of major airline operators rose between 0.7% and 3.5% after plummeting 3% to 9% on Friday.

Halliburton Co jumped 2.4%, leading to gains among energy stocks as oil prices rebounded from Friday's sell-off. Major bank stocks bounced backtracking a recovery in Treasury yields, but concerns over the Omicron variant saw investors pricing in a potential delay to interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve next year.

"If Omicron did become a major issue, it would have to be bigger than the Delta waves which we just went through. There's no question that the (Fed) taper would either be paused or delayed," said Thomas Hayes, managing member, Great Hill Capital LLC, New York. "You may get a little whiplash back and forth with headlines in coming weeks, but on balance, people need to have exposure into year-end."

At 8:25 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 232 points, or 0.67%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 37.75 points, or 0.82%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 155 points, or 0.97%. Among other premarket movers, shares of casino operators Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International slipped 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively, tracking losses in their Macau units, which were rattled by arrests over alleged links to cross-border gambling and money laundering.

Advanced Micro Devices rose 1.7% following a report electric-car maker Tesla Inc has started using a new AMD chip in Model Y vehicles in China. Tesla's shares gained 1.7% after a report that chief Elon Musk urged employees to reduce the cost of vehicle deliveries.

Apple Inc gained 1.4% after HSBC raised its price target on the iPhone maker's stock. TJX Cos Inc rose 2.6% after Citigroup upgraded the T.J. Maxx owner's stock to "buy" from "neutral".

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)