NEW YORK, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) — U.S. stocks fell on Monday as fears over the fast spread of the Omicron variant clouded Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 433.28 points, or 1.23 percent, to 34,932.16. The S&P 500 decreased 52.62 points, or 1.14 percent, to 4,568.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 188.74 points, or 1.24 percent, to 14,980.94.

Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with financials and materials down 1.9 percent and 1.82 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. The utilities and the consumer staples groups eked out modest gains.

U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower with nine of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

The weakness came as COVID-19 infections continue to spike in the United States, driven by cases of the Omicron variant.

Health experts have warned of “viral blizzard” in the country as the new Omicron variant spreads rapidly nationwide and has already been found in more than 40 U.S. states.

The current seven-day daily average of COVID-19 cases is over 132,000, a 12.9-percent increase from the previous week, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the trading week ending Dec. 17, the Dow and the S&P 500 dropped 1.7 percent and 1.9 percent respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq decreased 2.9 percent, pressured by concerns over surging cases of the Omicron variant and Federal Reserve’s hawkish pivot.