Tokyo, Dec. 2 (BNA): Shares in Asia were mixed on Friday after a broad rally on Wall Street as investors kept an eye on the spread of the novel coronavirus and measures taken by governments to curb it.
Hong Kong slipped more than 1% while Tokyo slipped. Shanghai and Seoul were higher while Sydney was virtually unchanged, according to the Associated Press.
Oanda’s Craig Erlam said in a comment that the recent recovery could be short-lived.
“Early signs are not promising given the rate of increase in cases in South Africa and the fact that Omicron is already emerging in many other countries,” Erlam said.
Investors may be “hoping for positive news about the efficacy of the vaccine against the new strain and to take advantage of these levels before it’s too late. If they don’t get the news they were hoping for, we could see another sharp move lower.”
The S&P 500 rose 1.4% Thursday, its biggest gain since mid-October, to 4,577.10. The Dow Jones rose 1.8% to 34639.79. The Nasdaq added 0.8% to 15,381.32, weighed by a modest decline in Apple, which fell 0.6% after the iPhone maker reportedly warned suppliers it was seeing weak demand ahead of the holiday season.
The Russell 2000 index jumped 2.7% to 2206.33. Travel-related businesses, which were hit earlier this week with concerns about the novel coronavirus variant of the markets, bounced back on Thursday.
American Airlines stock rose 7%, while Delta Air Lines stock is up 9.3%. Cruise line operators Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Line jumped 9.2% and 7.7%, respectively.
Boeing stock rose 7.5% after China’s aviation regulations authorized the plane maker’s 737 Max jet to return to flying with technology upgrades.
The market’s recovery comes as investors try to gauge how much damage the omicron variant of COVID-19 could do to the economy, and the measures the United States and other governments are taking to rein in it. Trading has been choppy all week, and despite recent gains, every major indicator is on track for a weekly loss.
Countries impose travel barriers and stricter restrictions on businesses and individuals. Concerns about global restrictions potentially hampering economic growth joined concerns about rising inflation, prompting the Federal Reserve to consider withdrawing stimulus measures sooner than expected.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.42% from 1.44% late Thursday.
Crude oil prices rose in the United States after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied oil-producing countries decided on Thursday to stick with their plans to increase production through steady and modest monthly increases in oil releases, even as the omicron variable added to more uncertainty about the global economic recovery from the pandemic. Energy companies gained ground. Chevron shares rose 2.7 percent.
Early Friday, the price of benchmark US crude oil rose 98 cents to $67.48 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international oil pricing benchmark, rose 89 cents to $70.56 a barrel.
The US dollar rose to 113.14 JPY from 113.06 JPY late Thursday. The euro fell to 1.1297 dollars from 1.1300 dollars.
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