A little composure returned to the financial markets on Monday as concerns related to the highly transmissible Omicron variant got subsided a bit. The investors settled for a steadier stream of investment as Oil prices regained momentum and bounced by $3.
The new Coronavirus variant has been found in Australia and Canada, and now other countries are putting in place the measures to make sure no visitors from the affected nations are allowed to visit their nations. Britain has specifically called a meeting of health ministers of G7 Nations to discuss the action plan to contain the emerging threats from this highly infectious form of the virus.
Commenting on the situation, NAB’s market strategist, Rodrigo Catril, said that markets do not have enough information about the new variant, and until they get further details about it, they are forced to make a reassessment of the future outlook of the global growth.
In the early hours of Monday, trading was erratic but it regained its composure as both Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures registered an increase of 0.9% and 0.8% respectively. Both these indices suffered a major decline on Friday as stocks of the airline and travel industry tumbled. Nikkei, the stock market index for Tokyo Stock Exchange was down by 0.9% while the treasury futures after a sharp decline of 14 basis points, yields regained 0.55%.
The dollar declined 1.7% on Friday, and in the early hours of Monday, it was hovering around 113.81 yen. The value of the Euro was pegged at $1.1294, which was an increase of $1.1203 from its value the previous week.
The official statement put out by the European Central Bank President; Christine Lagarde, claims that the Euro-Zone is far better equipped to handle the economic impact of the new wave of Covid-19 infections. The economic scenario is also buzzing with activity as the important indicators, such as the PMI index of the manufacturing sector of both China and the US, are up for release later in the week.
