Staff of Reuters 2 minutes ReadFILE PHOTO: The New York Stock Exchange is seen in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, United States, on April 16, 2021, amid the coronavirus illness (COVID-19) pandemic. (Reuters) – REUTERS/Carlo Allegri On Thursday, U.S. stock index futures tumbled more than 1% as the COVID-19 Delta variant’s widening spread threw doubt on the economy’s recovery, while a sell-off in Chinese technology companies appeared to have spilled over. A increase in the highly contagious variety, according to Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic, might stymie the US economy’s recovery. The Federal Reserve’s June meeting minutes also revealed that officials believed an economic recovery was still a long way off. In premarket trading, U.S.-listed Chinese stocks fell, after heavy losses in China and Hong Kong, as investors feared Beijing would tighten its grip on the technology industry. Alibaba Group declined 2.6 percent, while Baidu, the Chinese internet search engine, fell 3.8 percent. Didi Global, whose app was taken down by the Chinese authorities, lost 6.5 percent, while the FAANG group of companies sank between 0.9 percent and 1.7 percent. The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear barometer, increased 3.1 points to its highest level in more than two weeks. Dow e-minis were down 367 points, or 1.06 percent, at 5:50 a.m. ET. The S& Ambar Warrick contributed reporting from Bengaluru, and Arun Koyyur edited the piece./n
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