Moderna’s sign is seen outside of their headquarters in Cambridge, MA on March 11, 2021.
Boston Globe | Getty Images
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading Friday:
United Airlines, American Airlines – Airline stocks were hit hard during Friday’s sell-off, as the new Covid variant sparked travel restrictions. Shares of United and American dropped 9.6% and 8.8%, respectively. Delta lost 8.3%, and aircraft maker Boeing slid 5.4%.
Marriott International, Airbnb — Travel stocks took a hit after news of the new Covid variant. Hotel stocks Marriott and Hilton retreated 6.5% and 6.3%, respectively. Airbnb fell 3.4%. Expedia sunk 9.5%.
Carnival, Royal Caribbean — Cruise line stocks also retreated as Covid fears swelled. Carnival shed 11%, Norwegian Cruise Line sunk 11.4%, and Royal Caribbean fell more than 13.2%.
Live Nation, Las Vegas Sands — Entertainment and Casino stocks fell amid news of the new Covid variant. Live Nation shed 8.1%, Las Vegas Sands lost 5.4%, Wynn Resorts fell 6%, and Penn National Gaming dipped 0.8%.
Macy’s, Gap — Retail stocks were hit hard Friday, in what is normally one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Shares of department store chain Macy’s were down more than 5.2%, while Gap fell 2.9%. Nordstrom lost 1.1%. Nike was down 2.3%. Shares of Simon Property Group, the biggest U.S. mall owner, dropped 5.1%. Meanwhile, grocery store chain Kroger added 1.4%.
Zoom Video – Zoom Video shares jumped 5.7%, as investors piled into stay-at-home stocks amid the broad market sell-off. Peloton also advanced 5.7%. Both stocks are still down heavily for 2021, however, as investors have rotated into areas of the economy that benefitted from the economic reopening.
Moderna, Pfizer — Vaccine makers saw their shares rally after the Covid variant news. Moderna surged 20.6%, Pfizer jumped 6.1%, BioNTech gained 14.2% and Novavax added roughly 9%. Other health-care stocks also gained as Covid fears grew. Quest Diagnostics rose 3.6% while Incyte added 2.5%.
Merck — Merck shares retreated 3.8% after the drugmaker’s experimental Covid-19 pill showed a lower efficacy rate in updated data than was seen in an earlier study.
Occidental Petroleum – Shares of the exploration and production company tumbled 7.2% amid a broad decline in energy stocks. U.S. oil slid about 13%, falling below $70 amid fears over the new Covid variant. Marathon Oil declined 6.7%, Devon Energy fell 5.3% and APA retreated 8.3%. Every component in the S&P 500 energy sector declined during Friday’s holiday-shortened trading session.
Bank of America, Citigroup — Bank stocks tumbled on Friday as the new Covid variant raised fears about economic growth and drove Treasury yields lower. Shares of Bank of America lost 3.9%, Citigroup fell 2.7%, while Goldman Sachs dropped around 2.5%.
Didi Global — Shares of Didi fell 2.8% after a report that the ride-sharing company has been asked by Chinese regulators to delist from the New York Stock Exchange. The request to delist the ride-haling company is said to come amid concerns about data security.
Tesla — Tesla shares slid 3.1% after a report that the company will invest $188 million to expand production capacity at its Shanghai factory.
— CNBC’s Jesse Pound and Pippa Stevens contributed reporting
This article was originally published on CNBC