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Asia-Pacific stocks bounce as investors assess omicron Covid variant concerns; oil prices jump 2%

Major markets across Asia-Pacific bounced back on Wednesday, following losses the day before that were triggered by renewed uncertainty on the omicron Covid variant.

South Korea’s Kospi led gains regionally, rising 2.17% after a tumble of more than 2% on Tuesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index also saw robust gains, rising 1.4% after falling the day before. However, mainland Chinese stocks were mixed, with the Shanghai composite up 0.11% and the Shenzhen component shedding 0.267%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.84%, attempting to recover following multiple sessions of losses. The Topix index advanced 0.74%.

Over in Southeast Asia, the Straits Times index in Singapore jumped 1.29%.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia bucked the trend, dipping 0.18%. Australia’s economy shrank 1.9% in the September quarter, official data showed Wednesday. That was above market forecasts for a 2.7% decline, according to Reuters.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.3%.

European stocks seen reaching new records in 2022

Uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic has not dented prospects for European stocks to hit record highs in 2022, boosted by a recovery in corporate profits, according to a Reuters poll of 23 fund managers, strategists and brokers.

The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) would gain 7% and reach 500 points by July, 10 points above the lifetime peak hit on Nov. 17, according to the Nov. 15-30 poll.

European markets set to rebound after tumultuous session due to omicron Covid variant

The positive start to the first trading day of December comes after global markets were rattled at the start of the week and into Tuesday by concerns surrounding the new omicron Covid-19 variant amid fears that it could evade vaccines.