Global markets remain volatile amid a lack of information about the Omicron variant. Following a relatively calm start to the session, European equity markets tumbled ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, reversing yesterday’s gains.
Adding to a nervous tone in the regional markets, the Financial Times reported an Omicron case with no known travel link that has been detected in England. As a reminder, last week, several infections were detected in Scotland linked to an event that had no known travel connection.
US stock index futures look mixed so far, with S&P 500 futures trading marginally higher after an agreement was reached on US stopgap, a measure to avert a shutdown. On the data front, US November Challenger layoffs came in at 14,875 versus 22,822 in the previous month, to mark the lowest number since 1993.
Meanwhile, US weekly initial jobless claims arrived at 222,000 versus 240,000 expected. Continuing claims also improved to the lowest level since March 2020, confirming that the US labor market is robust and healthy.
In a knee-jerk reaction to another series of upbeat job market data, the US dollar climbed marginally. Still, currency markets, in general, were unmoved ahead of the critical nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday. The data is expected to show a job gain of 553,000 versus 531,000 in October.
Elsewhere, oil prices came under renewed selling pressure ahead of the OPEC+ decision. The expectations range from keeping existing oil production plans to no production increases or lowering the oil production plan in January. Brent crude failed to hold above the $70 figure earlier in the day slipped back below the $69 region ahead of North American trading.