Global stock and oil prices plummeted as investors pondered a new variant of the coronavirus that surfaced in South Africa. In Europe, the FTSE 100 Index fell by more than 3% as airlines and hotel companies struggled. The DAX index fell by more than 2.65%, while CAC 40 fell by more than 3%.
Elsewhere in the United States, Dow Jones-linked futures fell by more than 800 points, while Nasdaq 100-linked futures fell by more than 230 points. Crude oil was also below $ 80. The market is concerned because this variant is becoming more prevalent than in Delta.
The Swiss franc has soared against the US dollar as the market reflects Switzerland’s relatively strong economic indicators. The National Statistics Bureau said in a report that the number of employees exceeded 5.21 million in the third quarter.
This indicates that the country’s workforce has moved to a location before the pandemic began. Additional data showed that the country’s economy grew 1.7% quarter-on-quarter. This was better than the median estimate of 1.6%. The economy grew 4.1% year after year. Nevertheless, the Swiss National Bank is unlikely to start tightening.
The Japanese yen has risen against the US dollar, even after relatively weak numbers from Japan. Tokyo’s consumer price index rose from 0.1% in October to 0.5% in November, according to the country’s Bureau of Statistics. Core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy products, rose from 0.1% to 0.3%.
These numbers show that Japan is struggling to boost inflation despite rising energy prices. Other important figures released today were Germany’s positive import and export price index and Sweden’s strong retail sales data.
Read More: Stocks and oil price sinks on new COVID-19 variant risk (fxstreet.com)
