Today's session did not really bring much volatility to the markets. The most key news of the day seems to have been about coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer, the first company to release a vaccine on the market. The initial information coming from the company was not clear, but eventually it was communicated that two and three doses of the vaccine should be good cover against the new coronavirus variant. Nevertheless, Pfizer still announced that it will work on a new variant of the vaccine, also geared towards Omicron, within the next months. The market reacted very positively to this news and many indices were then at daily peaks. Later, however, these gains were given back and many indices today closed the day with declines.
On Wall Street, the situation has improved compared to the start of the session and only the Dow Jones is currently slightly negative. Travel stocks gained today, although it is also worth noting another rebound in technology companies. There is still a chance of a Santa Claus Rally, although not all indices have yet recovered from the appearance of a new strain of coronavirus.
Start investing today or test a free demo
Open real account TRY DEMO Download mobile app Download mobile appThe oil market has also behaved quite mixed. There are conflicting messages coming out of OPEC+ and it is difficult to forecast what the next steps from the cartel will be. The price rebounded today, but received a slight blow from a weak DOE report on oil inventories. Oil inventories fell, but very little, by less than 300,000 bbl alone. Seasonality indicates that end of year inventories tend to be stable. Stocks of petroleum products rose very sharply for the second week in a row, which may raise concerns about real demand. However, oil processing has increased and stocks are rising from very low levels, mostly from at least 5-year lows.
Expectations of interest rate rises have fallen in the UK amid the announcement of more restrictions. The chances of a December hike are diminishing, although there is still a chance. Goldman Sachs has pushed back its forecast to February. The announced restrictions, however, did not turn out to be very severe, from the point of view of the economy.
The Bitcoin price is currently holding above the key $50,000 support. Ethereum is dominating and getting closer and closer to historical highs. The global cryptocurrency market capitalization sits at 2.38 trillion dollars today.