Stocks Were Mixed As Investors Assessed Omicron’s Impact

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on December 29 as analyzed the impact of the omicron Covid variant. 

Mainland Chinese stocks declined on December 29. The Shanghai composite dropped 0.91% to finish its trading day at 3,597. The Shenzhen component fell 1.24% to close at 14,653.82.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped about 1%, as of its final hour of trading.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.56% to end its trading day at 28,906.88. The Topix index also fell 0.3% to 1,998.99. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.89% on the day to 2,993.29.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.21% to close at 7,509.80. The Straits Times index in Singapore also added 0.34% in afternoon trade.

Investors continued monitoring developments surrounding Covid’s new variant. According to a new study, the immune response of patients infected with the omicron Covid variant appears to increase protection against delta more than fourfold and could replace delta. 

U.S. stocks on December 28

One day earlier, U.S. stocks were mixed as the major stock indexes tried to build on record highs in the final weeks of 2021.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 95.83 points or about 0.3% to 36,398.21 in its fifth straight winning day. The S&P 500 dropped 0.1%  to close at 4,786.35 after reaching a fresh intraday high earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite declined nearly 0.6% to 15,781.72.

On December 28, investors continued to look to pandemic news for direction with the threat of the omicron variant looming large. 

Interestingly, covid drug makers closed lower amid the omicron developments. Pfizer dropped 2% and Moderna fell 2.2%. 

Nvidia dropped 2% and Applied Materials fell about 1.9%. 

Travel-related stocks saw gains on the day. For instance, Boeing was one of the Dow’s leaders with a 1.5% gain. Furthermore, American Airlines was among the S&P 500’s top gainers, rising 2%.