Stocks Tumble On Fed’s Powell Omicron, Inflation Warning

U.S. stocks took a leg down after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned the omicron variant could result in a faster path to tapering.

The Dow Jones Industrial average tumbled over 500 points or 1.5% while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.4% each. 

Powell told members of Congress on Tuesday that the omicron variant could mean policymakers may need to speed up the pace of previously outlined tapering plans. He also noted the U.S. will get a clearer picture on the variant in about ten days. 

On inflation he said removing the word "transitory", a frequent description used by the Fed, now makes sense. 

"I think you what you've seen, is you've seen our policy adapt and you'll see it continue to adapt to we will use our tools to make sure that higher inflation does not become entrenched," he said.