EQUITIES
Asia-Pacific markets rose in Thursday trade, as fears over the Omicron variant eased. The Nikkei 225 in Japan nudged 0.45% higher, with South Korea’s KOSPI climbed 0.23%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed earlier gains, rising 0.16% by the afternoon. Mainland Chinese stocks were higher, with the Shanghai composite up 0.13%. Investors continued monitoring COVID-19 developments in the country after the major Chinese city of Xi’an entered a lockdown on Thursday as authorities seek to control a flare-up of COVID-19 cases.
Elsewhere, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gained 0.18%, the S&P BSE Sensex in India advanced 0.67% and in Southeast Asia, the Singapore’s Straits Times index added 0.24%.
OIL
Oil prices rose on Thursday for a third straight day, underpinned by a weaker dollar on optimism about global growth, and by a larger-than-expected drawdown in U.S. inventories Wednesday.
The Brent now traded at $75.50 per barrel, and U.S. crude futures traded at $72.99 per barrel.
Overnight, the Brent futures ends at $75.29 a barrel, while the WTI crude oil prices closed to $72.76 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six rivals, stood at 96.037, not far from the overnight low of 96.020, touched for the first time since Dec. 17 after better-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence rose to 115.8 in December against the consensus estimate of 110.8 points.
Turkey's lira steadied and held its recent gains after a rollercoaster ride in which it charged back from record lows due to President Tayyip Erdogan's new steps to guard Turks' savings against volatility.
GOLD
Spot gold was steady at $1,806.70 an ounce, above the symbolic $1,800 level, helped by the weaker dollar. U.S. gold futures was also higher at $1,807.10.
Spot silver rose 0.30% to $22.88 an ounce, platinum slipped 0.17% to $966.80, and palladium edged 1.84% lower to $1,854.50.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
A global share rally continued in Thursday trade as markets took cheer from positive signs about the impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and U.S. economic data.
The recent health data indicate that the worst case is unlikely: even though transmission rates are reportedly higher, this variant seems less virulent and less prone to cause serious illnesses or death. Studies signalling Omicron may be less likely to land patients in hospital than the Delta variant also helped the mood.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday meanwhile granted authorization for Pfizer’s Covid treatment pill, the first oral antiviral drug cleared during the pandemic.
Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce titan JD.com plunged 7.09% while Tencent surged 4.02%. Those moves came after Tencent announced it will distribute majority of its shares in JD.com to its shareholders, effectively diluting its stake in the e-commerce firm from around 17% to approximately 2.3%.
The divestment move comes as Beijing leads a broad regulatory crackdown on technology firms, taking aim at their overseas growth ambitions and concentration of market power in China.
