- European indices close higher
- US won't consider lockdown
- US stock and cryptocurrencies rebound as Omicron fears calm
- Precious metals under pressure
Indices from the Old continent finished today's session higher, supported by the travel & leisure sector as some health officials said that Omicron coronavirus variant seems to cause only mild symptoms of infection. Also pharmaceutical giant Moderna announced that a reformulated vaccine aimed at the new variant could be ready at the beginning of the year. On the data front, the Eurozone economic sentiment indicator plunged to a 6-month low of 117.5 as several countries implemented new COVID-19 restrictions and lockdown measures. Also, preliminary German CPI reading showed consumer prices jumped to 5.2% in November over the same month last year, the steepest increase since June 1992.
Upbeat moods prevail also on Wall Street,where Dow Jones rose nearly 1%, the S&P jumped over 1.5%and the Nasdaq gained 2% after President Biden said economic lockdowns for the omicron Covid variant are currently off the table. “If people are vaccinated and wear their masks, there’s no need for lockdowns,” Biden said today and reassured there would be no new travel restrictions. The tech stocks are the best performers while travel related equities started session higher, turned flat-to-lower then rebounded again in a choppy session. This week investors will focus on the November jobs report on Friday and the ISM manufacturing survey on Wednesday.
WTI crude price reversed early gains and is trading flat around $70.80 per barrel, while Brent crude futures fell 0.80%. OPEC+ rescheduled its meeting from Tuesday to Thursday in order to evaluate the impact of the new coronavirus strain on the global economy and fuel demand, with markets speculating on a potential pause to output increases.
Meanwhile bearish moods still prevail on the precious metals market. Gold price fell more than 0.50% below $1,785 an ounce and silver dropped over 1.20% amid stronger dollar and higher treasury yields. Major cryptocurrencies rebounded today following Friday’s speed bump. Bitcoin rose 4.50% and is heading towards psychological $60,000, while Ethereum surged 5% and if current sentiment prevails all-time high at $ 4,870 may be at risk.
GBPUSD pair was unable to break above the resistance zone around 1.3345-1.3355, which is marked with previous price reactions and the upper limit of the local 1:1 structure. So it seems that the downward moods prevail and a move towards the recent lows at 1.3278 is possible. Should break lower occur, the next target for the market bears is located around 1.3255 level, which coincides with 161.8% external Fibonacci retracement of the last upward wave.
GBPUSD H1 interval. Source: xStation5
