Asian equities rise as soft dollar markets decide on Omicron’s limited fall Reuters

Author: Alun John

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Thursday saw a rise in global equities in early Asian trading and a safe-haven dollar back as markets welcomed positive signals about the omicron variant of COVID-19 and the impact of US economic data.

It gained 0.3% and the MSCI’s broadest Asia-Pacific stock index rose 0.6% outside Japan in its third straight session of gains as fears of a new coronavirus strain took over markets on Monday and pushed investors to safe havens.

“The unpredictability of the pandemic and its impact on growth and inflation continue to dominate investors’ risk appetite, ”said David Chao, Invesco’s Asia Pacific global market strategist.

“New health data from the UK and elsewhere in the UK indicate that the worst case scenario is unlikely: although transmission rates are higher, this variant appears less virulent and less likely to cause serious illness or death.”

The risk of having to stay in the hospital for patients with COVID-19’s Omicron variant is 40% to 45% lower than that of Delta variant patients, according to a study released by Imperial College London on Wednesday.

Overnight, it rose 0.74%, rose 1.02% and rose 1.18%, after data showed a further improvement in US consumer confidence in December, and the White House said talks on the massive social spending and climate change bill that he was starting again with resilient Senator Joe. Mantxin. [.N]

However, despite the gains on both sides of the Pacific markets this week, MSCI’s broad Asian benchmark gains began on Monday’s year low, with U.S. benchmarks seeing last month’s recognition.

The strong economic growth in the United States and the nervousness sparked by major rule changes in China earlier this year have pushed away from the technology, the ownership, the investment that has driven industrial stocks away from Asia.

Hong Kong has been hit hard by a 15% drop in 2021, which would be the worst year since 2011.

On Thursday, the benchmark rose 0.45%, even though the shares of JD (NASDAQ :). . [L4N2T802E]

In the currency markets, in line with the “risk” mood, it was at 96,042, not far from the low of 96,020 at night, touched for the first time since December 17th.

Recent losses have been quite extensive; The euro has gained in the last four sessions, with the Australian dollar – often seen as a substitute for risk appetite – rising 1.1% a week.

The benchmark 10-year yield was last at 1.4145%, comfortably in the middle of its final stretch.

Oil prices also rose, again in line with optimism about the state of the world economy, helped by higher-than-expected U.S. inventories on Wednesday. [O/R]

futures rose 0.3% to $ 75.53 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gross futures rose 0.38% to $ 73.04.

It remained stable at $ 1,804 an ounce, above the symbolic $ 1,800 level, helped by the weaker dollar. [GOL/]