Fear of the unknown
It remains unclear whether Omicron is more infectious … than other variants, including Delta.
“[The] WHO is working with technical partners to understand the potential impact of this variation on our existing countermeasures, including vaccines. ”
In a note on Saturday, Nohshad Shah of Goldman Sachs said it was too early for analysts to “draw conclusions”.
“It should be emphasized that at this stage we have very little laboratory evidence and very limited real-world data,” he notes.
But [selloff] Following Friday’s news of the concerning new variant as a reminder of the high macro volatility in the current environment, “Shah, co-head of interest rate sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa , Write.” The next few weeks can be quite nerve-wracking for the market. “
In a report Sunday, economists at Morgan Stanley said the arrival of fresh money poses “short-term risks” to their outlook for Asia.
“To assess the impact of the Omicron variant, we are monitoring in detail its transmissibility and its impact on vaccine effectiveness and hospitalization and mortality.”
Market crash
On Friday, stocks around the world fell as fear enveloped global markets. Oil prices fell more than 10%.
Friday had a short US session that ended around lunchtime, after markets closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. Traditionally, the half-day session has lower volume, which can exacerbate volatility in the market.
Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note over the weekend that his team viewed Friday’s roadmap “as an obvious buying opportunity.”
“Ultimately, this is not the first variant or the last,” he said.
“While the volatility and news flow surrounding this situation will take over the headlines, our technology [investing] playbook remains unchanged. “
— Anneken Tappe, Christina Maxouris and Laura He contributed to this report.
