Beyond Meat Inc BYND.O firmed 6.8% after Piper Sandler upgraded the plant-based meat maker's stock to "neutral" from "underweight". The fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant also dampened investor sentiment after the S&P 500 index .SPX hit an all-time closing high late last week. "COVID plus inflation is the Grinch that stole Christmas," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer at Longbow Asset Management.