Asia Session: Omicron Relief Rally Gathers Steam But Regional Indices Mixed – Investing.com

Asia Session: Omicron Relief Rally Gathers Steam But Regional Indices Mixed – Investing.com

You would be hard pushed to find a reason not to be in a jubilant mood as an investor as financial markets dished out a happy new year yesterday, the first trading day of the 2022. I spent it on a series of almost empty flights on the trek to managed isolation in New Zealand, but for the rest of the world, the New York session finished with plenty of New Year’s goodies. Stocks finished higher, oil moved higher, the US dollar moved higher, and US Treasury yields moved higher. All signs that the US economy is starting the year in continuing recovery mode.

The chief reason behind the return of investor confidence is Omicron, a trend really occurring since Christmas and the incessant “Jeff, will we get a Santa Claus rally?” As more data pours in, it seems that yes, the virus variant is much more contagious, but it is not leading to a proportionally larger number of hospital admissions, the opposite in fact. Quid pro quo, it won’t’ stop the global economic recovery, although China will remain locked up with Hong Kong and New Zealand, therefore “buy everything.”