Dow plunges 900 points as new COVID-19 variant stokes finacial fears

Stocks fell precipitously on Friday, rattled by news of a new coronavirus variant that led several countries to impose travel restrictions.

The Dow plunged more than 900 points, or 2.6%, falling below 34,890 in morning trade. The S&P 500 dropped 1.8% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.4%.

Investors were rattled by news of a COVID-19 variant, dubbed "Nu" after the Greek letter, detected in five African nations that could be more infectious than earlier varieties. Scientists caution that more data is needed to determine how infectious the variant is and how it holds up against vaccines. In recent days, the Nu variant has been detected in Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium, according to media reports.