Stocks drop on fears COVID variant threatens economy's recovery

U.S. stocks tumbled out of the gate Monday amid deepening investor pessimism over rising COVID-19 infections that could knock the economy off its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dow fell nearly 470 points moments after the opening bell Monday, to about 34,218, while both the S&P 500-stock index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite were down about 1.3%. Overseas, France's CAC 40 shed 2.6% in midday trading, while Germany's DAX was down 2.8%. Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 2.5%.