Current mood:
- Pfizer: 3 doses of vaccine neutralises the omicron variant
- Risk rebounds as Pfizer reveals a third dose of their vaccine neutralises omicron variant
Past mood:
- New COVID-19 restrictions looking imminent for the UK
- Risk mood takes a knock as virus fears are reignited
Headlines:
- ECB's Rehn: Inflation should ease from early next year
- ECB's de Guindos: No evidence of second round inflation effects
- ICYMI: Chinese developer Kaisa also misses bond payment
- BOJ's Amamiya: Omicron variant heightens uncertainty for Japan's economic outlook
Markets:
- EUR leads, GBP lags on the day
- European indices mixed, a little lower; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields down 0.3 bps to 1.47%
- Gold flat at $1,784.90
- WTI up 0.2% to $72.20
- Bitcoin down 2.5% to $49,232
The session began with some mixed tones across the market but that shifted to being more risk averse amid talk of the UK introducing further COVID-19 measures to deal with omicron.
The risk mood soured as equities fell and bond yields retreated. S&P 500 futures pared an early advance of 0.4% to turn flat while 10-year Treasury yields fell by over 4 bps to 1.43%.
In FX, that saw USD/JPY dragged lower from 113.50 to 113.31 as risk sentiment eased. In the commodities space, oil fell from $72.50 to $71.50 amid the resurgence of virus fears.
But that all turned on its head as soon as Pfizer revealed a preliminary study that 3 doses of its vaccine is enough to neutralise the omicron variant.
That caused a 180° turn in the risk mood with equities bouncing back strongly. S&P 500 futures jumped to post 0.5% gains before pulling some of that back ahead of US trading.
Meanwhile, Treasury yields also rebounded with 10-year yields pretty much erasing declines for the day to 1.47%.
In turn, USD/JPY also rebounded back up to 113.85 with AUD/USD keeping resilient around 0.7120-30 levels on the day.
The pound is the notable laggard as it is pressured by the domestic news above. EUR/GBP is up to test its 200-day moving average @ 0.8555 and GBP/USD is down to fresh lows for the year below 1.3200.
The latest twist and turn today exemplifies the fact that the market is still drawn in by focus on omicron developments. Expect plenty more reaction to follow in the days/weeks ahead as more information is gathered and digested.
