Asia stocks, oil struggle as Omicron worries weigh

Asia stocks, oil struggle as Omicron worries weigh

U.S. airlines have cancelled or delayed thousands of flights over the past three days due to COVID-19-related staff shortages, while several cruise ships had to cancel stops after outbreaks on-board.







Reuters









December 27, 2021 / 08:33 AM IST





Asian stock markets were generally weaker with U.S. crude in holiday-thinned trading on Monday, as uncertainty over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant weighed on investor sentiment.

U.S. airlines have cancelled or delayed thousands of flights over the past three days due to COVID-19-related staff shortages, while several cruise ships had to cancel stops after outbreaks on-board.

In Asia, China reported its highest daily rise in local COVID-19 cases in 21 months over the weekend as infections more than doubled in the northwestern city of Xian, the country’s latest COVID hot spot.

Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.20% while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.11%.

Mainland Chinese shares, though, were mixed, with Shanghai’s benchmark sliding 0.37% but an index of blue chips edged 0.05% higher.

Australia, Hong Kong and Britain are among markets closed Monday for holidays.

"There is concern over the widening spread of the Omicron variant, which is overall making people cautious about taking stocks higher" in