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US Markets: Staging a sharp comeback on Monday, the major stock averages of the Wall Street started in the positive territory with the Dow Industrials advancing more than 660 points, the broader S&P 500 gaining nearly 1% and Nasdaq Composite oscillating slightly changed as heavyweight tech and pharma shares cracked.
The fears surrounding the Omicron variant have seemingly faded as no country has reported about its severity and the extent of damage. The continued hopes of sharper economic recovery in the upcoming months on the back of renewed consumption and subsequently higher spending, markets have once again positioned themselves as investors continue to accumulate on dips.
With the optimism of indices hitting further record highs in the near term, Dow surpassing the psychological level of 40,000 and consequential recovery in the businesses, market participants are looking forward to maximising the profits. However, the uncertainty with regard to the market direction remains there as healthcare authorities and respective vaccine makers are yet to provide a comprehensive response against the Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) virus.
The mutating variants of coronavirus has made the situation worse as double-jabbed people are also contracting infections with a considerable section of the inoculated population seeking medical intervention and hospitalisation.
Following the fresh jittery fuelled by the emergence of the Omicron variant and the World Health Organisation warning of severe consequences, the institutional investors are increasingly incorporating safe-havens in their portfolio to minimise the combined exposure to risky assets.
With conventional capital market instruments experiencing extreme volatility, cryptos are no exception. In a matter of hours, bitcoin on Saturday tumbled to a level last seen on 1 October 2021, effectively wiping out all the gains. The following cryptocurrencies according to the market capitalisation have also experienced a rout in the last couple of sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 661.77 points, 1.91% to 35,241.85, the technology heavy Nasdaq Composite added 96.44 points, or 0.64% 15,181.91 and the wider share indicator S&P 500 jumped 54.91 points, or 1.21% to 4,593.34.
US Market News: Amid the heavyweight components of Dow Industrials, shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Visa, American Express, Intel, Boeing, Amgen, Coca-Cola, 3M, Walt Disney Co, McDonald’s, Apple, Travelers Companies, Dow, Caterpillar, Goldman Sachs, UnitedHealth Group, J&J, Chevron, Honeywell International, JPMorgan Chase and Home Depot soared 2-5%, providing the major positive points to the market index. On the other hand, stocks of Salesforce.com and Nike slipped marginally.
As far as the Nasdaq Composite constituents, the shares of Baidu, Marriott International, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Bookings Holdings, MercadoLibre, Ross Stores, Intel, Amgen, Sirius XM and Kraft Heinz jumped 2-6%.
On the contrary, the shares hovering in negative territory nearly counterbalanced the positive points as the stock of Moderna collapsed more than 16%. The stock of Moderna is down over 29% in the last five sessions, nearly offsetting the two-day rally of 35%.
UK Markets: London equities rebounded sharply on Monday, 6 December, with the domestic benchmark FTSE 100 reclaiming the 7,200-mark for the first time after Black Friday’s market mayhem on the back of Omicron arrival. Suffering a 3.6% drop on Friday, 26 November, the market index has already gained 2.6%, slowly reapproaching the 7,300 levels, inching closer to prospective multi-month highs.
Shares of International Consolidated Airlines emerged as the biggest gainers among the 101 constituents of FTSE 100 with the stock appreciating more than 8%. The blue-chip components including AstraZeneca, Unilever, Diageo, HSBC Holdings, GlaxoSmithKline, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, British American Tobacco, Glencore, Relx, Anglo American, National Grid and Prudential surged up to 1-4%. The FTSE 100 gained +109.96 points, or 1.54% to finish at 7,232.28, while the mid-cap heavy FTSE 250 surged a little more than 1%.
FTSE 100 (6 December)
Source: EODHD/Others
Market Snapshot
Top 3 volume leaders: Lloyds Banking Group, Vodafone and BP
Top 3 sectoral indices: Travel, Beverages and Medical Services
Bottom 3 sectoral indices: Medical Services and Industrial Chemicals
Crude oil prices: Brent crude up 3.81% at $72.54/barrel; US WTI crude up 4.04% at $68.94/barrel
Gold prices: An ounce of gold traded at $1,779.35, down 0.27%
Exchange rate: GBP vs USD - 1.3251, up 0.15% | GBP vs EUR - 1.1751, up 0.52%
Bond yields: US 10-Year Treasury yield - 1.434% | UK 10-Year Government Bond yield - 0.7535%
Markets @ 16:35 GMT
