The announcement of a new COVID variant that may be resistant to current vaccines has sent the Dow and the S&P down the drain
I think this was the cause of the crash:
Didi shares sink on a report that Chinese regulators have asked it to delist from U.S.GUANGZHOU, China — Shares of China’s Didi sank sharply on Friday after Bloomberg reported that Chinese regulators have asked the firm’s executives to formulate a plan to delist from the U.S.
Didi shares closed down 2.59% in the U.S. amid a wider sell-off. SoftBank shares in Japan closed down by 5%. SoftBank’s Vision Fund owned more than 20% of Didi following its U.S. listing.
Bloomberg’s report said regulators want Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi to delist from the New York Stock Exchange because of concerns about leakage of sensitive data. The news agency cited people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/26/chinas-didi-asked-to-delist-from-us-softbank-shares-fall-report.html There is concern of other chinese conglomerates like Didi choosing to delist from the US in the future.
With the motive being perhaps to insulate china's economy from US inflation and a potential future crash.
I can't claim to be an expert on Didi or what china's motives are for this move. Its a topic well worth investigating IMO for anyone interested in the topic.
There were at least 8 different COVID strains in 2020. Announcement of the delta variant did little to move markets.
I hope people look at the Didi delisting as a probable cause behind recent negative market trends. It could well be a better explanation than the omicron variant of which has yet to reveal its full impact.