Why Oil Stocks Plunged on Friday
Oil stocks plunged this morning, and there was a lot more to the rout in the oil and gas sector than just Friday's stock market sell-off. Here's how much some of the biggest oil stocks had fallen at their lowest points during the day:
Although most of these stocks regained some ground as the day progressed, each still closed the shortened trading day in the red.
On Thursday, news came from South Africa about a new coronavirus variant that's reportedly highly infectious and has several mutations. That sparked fears across the globe and compelled the World Health Organization to designate the new variant, named Omicron, as a variant of concern. Some countries have already swung into action: The U.K., for example, was quick to ban flights from countries where the variant has been found.
Source Fool.com