Asian Stocks Climb But Don’t Undo Omicron Damage

Asian markets are teetering as we head into December, traditionally one of the strongest times of the year for stocks. That’s before we factor in the effects of Omicron, though, a “new unknown” that’s giving the end of the year unusual weakness.

Asian shares rallied solidly on Wednesday, and are leading rather than following U.S. markets from day to day. But today’s gains, while decent, don’t offset the damage since traders first started to respond to word of the Omicron variant during Friday trade in Asia.

In fact, most Asian markets have suffered through a poor second half to 2021, and are trading at levels last seen near the start of the year.

South Korean stocks were the strongest in the region today, with the Kospi up 2.1%. It had fallen 5.0% since Thursday’s close and first word of the new virus variant. That took the Seoul benchmark to its lowest levels since the very start of the year.

In Singapore, the Straits Times closed Wednesday on a 1.9% advance. It had dropped 4.7% between the end of trade Thursday and Tuesday’s close. It is at similar levels to last March.

Source: https://realmoney.thestreet.com/investing/global-equity/asian-stocks-climb-but-don-t-undo-omicron-damage-15847824