The spread of omicron caused the Netherlands to declare a lockdown this weekend and pressured other countries to tighten the restrictions.
The British cabinet will meet later on Monday, at a time when the country faces a record number of cases, while the World Economic Forum postponed until mid-2022 its annual meeting, which was to be held in the Swiss hill station. from Davos in January.
For its part, Goldman Sachs cut its forecast for America’s real GDP for the first quarter of 2022, after Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is key to President Joe Biden’s hopes of passing his US bill. investments, said Sunday that it would not support the package.
“Senator Manchin not supporting the president’s fiscal package and omicron spreading rapidly has toned down the beginning of the week and we have weaker stocks, lower oil prices and bond yields, and a yen. , a stronger dollar and a euro, “said Kit Juckes of Société Générale in London.
S&P and Nasdaq futures fell 1%, pointing to a lower open on Wall Street. European and British stocks hit two-week lows and were down 1.3% and 1%, respectively.
The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific equities excluding Japan was down 1.7%, to its lowest level in a year, and the index of world equities was hitting its lowest level in nearly two weeks.
Oil prices plummeted more than 4% on concerns that the omicron spread will reduce demand for fuel.
In foreign exchange markets, hints by the Federal Reserve that it will speed up its policy adjustment, combined with safe haven flows, propped the dollar index to near its best annual level, at 96.544 units, after climbing 0.7 % on Friday.
The euro rose 0.27% to $ 1.1271 after losing 0.8% on Friday and threatening to hit its low for the year; the yen was stable against its US pair, at 113.62 units; and the British pound was down 0.28% at $ 1.32.
The yield on US 10-year bonds was down to 1.387%, well below its 2021 high of 1.776%.
Gold was trading steady at $ 1,798 an ounce, after snapping a five-week losing streak last week.
Source From: Ambito
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