EDITOR'S NOTE
Stocks tumbled on Tuesday, reversing the prior session’s gains.
The threat of the omicron Covid variant continued to rattle investors. Market participants were especially spooked when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a Senate panel that he believes the central bank can taper its bond purchases at an even faster clip than the $15 billion-a-month schedule announced earlier in November.
"At this point, the economy is very strong and inflationary pressures are higher, and it is therefore appropriate in my view to consider wrapping up the taper of our asset purchases … perhaps a few months sooner," Powell said. "I expect that we will discuss that at our upcoming meeting.”
Expediting the removal of the Fed’s easy policies tells investors that the central bank is focusing on addressing inflation, instead of new threats from the pandemic.
"Markets appear to be having trouble digesting the combo of elevated uncertainty around the impact of the Omicron variant and a hawkish Fed pivot in the context of persistently elevated inflation," said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.
Tuesday also marked the final trading day of November. The volatile month left the Dow down 3.7% and the S&P 500 off by 0.8%. The Nasdaq Composite ended November higher, adding 0.25%. 
The small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 slipped nearly 4.3% in November, its worst month since March 2020 when the coronavirus crisis spurred the fastest bear market in history.
Still, the major averages are up solidly heading into the final month of 2021. The Dow has gained about 12.7% this year, and the S&P 500 has advanced nearly 21.6%. The Nasdaq Composite has rallied 20.5% in 2021.
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