EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Tuesday trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.76%, the mainland Shanghai composite up 0.23%, and the S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.01%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lagged the broader region, slipping 1.09%. South Korea’s KOSPI stood 1.20% lower, and the Straits Times index in Singapore slipped 0.56%.
Wall Street stocks closed higher on Monday, regaining some of the ground they lost in Friday's sell-off. The Nasdaq led gains among the major averages with help from the technology sector. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.88% to 15,782.83, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.68%, to 35,135.94, and the S&P 500 gained 1.32%, to 4,655.27.
OIL
Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, extending a rebound from last week's plunge on growing expectations major producers would pause plans to add crude supply in January amid uncertainty over the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Russia and Saudi Arabia signalled on Monday that there was no need for OPEC+ to race to adjust oil output policy this week. OPEC+ will meet on Thursday.
Weighing on the market is the prospect of a resumption of oil exports from Iran, following upbeat comments from diplomats as talks resumed between world powers and Iran on reviving a nuclear pact.
The Brent now traded at $73.97 per barrel, and U.S. crude futures traded at $70.66 per barrel.
Overnight, the Brent futures ends at $73.44 a barrel, while the WTI crude oil prices closed to $69.95 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
The dollar hovered on Tuesday above the one-week low against major peers it hit last week, as fears eased that the new Omicron coronavirus variant would derail the U.S. recovery and delay Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six major rivals, last traded at 96.150, up from a low of 95.973 from Friday, when it suffered its biggest one-day drop since May.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was at 1.518% compared with its U.S. close of 1.529% on Monday. The two-year yield, which rises with traders' expectations of higher Fed fund rates, touched 0.502% compared with a U.S. close of 0.51%.
GOLD
Spot gold rose 0.24% to $1,788370 per ounce. U.S. gold futures advanced 0.30% to $1,790.30.
Spot silver rose 0.43% to $22.90 per ounce. Platinum gained 0.08% to $965.30, while palladium added 0.35% to $1,795.50.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian share markets were trading mixed on Tuesday as investors in the region continued to track any developments surrounding the Omicron variant, cautious regarding the impact it could have in disrupting trade, travel, and economic activity.
There however appears to be some relief over the Omicron as its symptoms have been said to be milder, providing some support to the market but it remains highly uncertain as investigations by scientists are still ongoing. Positive overnight Wall Street performance also might have provided some support for local equities.
China's factory activity unexpectedly picked up in November, growing for the first time in three months as the crippling surge in raw material prices and power rationing eased, taking some pressure off the manufacturing sector. The official non-manufacturing PMI fell to 52.3 in November from 52.4 in October, data from the NBS showed.
