On Monday, global stock markets surged and oil prices fell as investors cheered good holiday season sales in the United States and some investors were less concerned about the Omicron version of COVID-19 causing economic harm. Despite the pressure from a stronger dollar, fears that the pandemic could harm economic development drove gold prices to their highest in more than a week.
According to a Mastercard Inc poll, holiday season retail sales in the United States increased significantly. This boosted investor confidence, boosting Wall Street and rising a global market index by 0.87 percent. Earlier loss in Asian markets was offset by advances in Europe.
Even while the pandemic has forced U.S. airlines to cancel or postpone thousands of flights due to personnel shortages, and numerous cruise ships have had to cancel stops due to COVID-19 outbreaks aboard, some investors are optimistic that the worldwide recovery will pick up next year.
In Asia, China reported the largest daily increase in local COVID-19 cases in 21 months, with infections more than doubling in Xian, the country’s newest hotspot. After the country set a new infection record, the French government called a special conference that could lead to new restrictions.
Gold futures increased 0.1 percent to $1,811.92 an ounce.
Following indications this week that the highly contagious Omicron version may not be as lethal as earlier types of COVID-19, Wall Street’s key stock indexes gained for the fourth straight session. “We’ll still have COVID issues in 2022, but the good news is that, according to the WHO, the pandemic could be over by the end of the year,” said Jawaid Afsar, Securequity’s sales trader. He went on to say that markets will have to deal with a variety of concerns in the coming year, including inflationary pressures, policy tightening, and geopolitical threats.
Looking ahead, light trade volumes ahead of the New Year may cause markets to become turbulent. Nonetheless, according to CFRA Research data, the last five trading days of December and the first two trading days of January have been favourable for U.S. stocks 75% of the time since 1945.
The STOXX 600 index in Europe climbed 0.62 percent, approaching its highest level in over a month.
Mainland Shanghai’s benchmark index fell 0.4 percent, while a blue-chip index fell less than 0.1 percent. However, property stocks rose after China’s central bank pledged to foster the healthy growth of the real estate industry.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.98 percent on Wall Street, while the S&P 500 gained 1.38 percent after setting a new high during the session. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 1.39 percent.
In the debt markets, 10-year Treasury rates remained below Thursday’s high of slightly over 1.5 percent. Despite the Federal Reserve’s hawkish turn this month, which saw policymakers signal three quarter-point rate rises in 2022, the dollar remained rangebound in foreign exchange markets.
The dollar index dropped 0.026%, while the euro rose 0.01 percent to $1.1326.
In the petroleum market, U.S. crude was recently up 3.04 percent to $76.03 a barrel, while Brent was up 3.68 percent to $78.94 per barrel.
