(Bloomberg) — Shares in companies whose businesses got a boost during past Covid-19 flareups rose on Friday as a new strain of the virus rattled markets and spurred fears of fresh social restrictions.
Zoom Video Communications Inc. and home-workout firm Peloton Interactive Inc. both jumped 5.7%, while the broader S&P 500 index tumbled 2.3%, its worst day since February. Streaming company Netflix Inc. rose 1.1% and food delivery firm DoorDash Inc. added 1.6%.
Work-from-home stocks and food delivery companies were among the gainers in Europe, too, with TeamViewer AG rising 3.4% and Delivery Hero SE and Deliveroo Plc both advancing, even as the Stoxx Europe 600 benchmark fell 3.7%.
Covid-19 testing companies gained amid concerns about the new strain, first discovered in southern Africa. Diagnostics firm Teladoc Health Inc. added 3.4% in New York, while Eurofins Scientific SE advanced 7.9% in Paris. Alpha Pro Tech Ltd., a maker of personal protective equipment, jumped 25%. Vaccine makers were also stronger.
Today’s broad market slump “is a logical reaction, people are worried and in the right places, like travel,” said Martin Moeller, co-head of Swiss & global portfolio management at Union Bancaire Privee in Geneva, who noted gains for stay-at-home stocks. “We will learn more over time if it is more contagious or more lethal.”
So-called lockdown winners and Covid-19 testing and treatment firms had already been gaining in recent weeks as European infection rates rose. They had underperformed over the summer as vaccination programs calmed concerns around the pandemic.
(Updates with closing share prices.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
