U.S. Opening Bell: Futures, Stocks Rebound On Fading Omicron Worry; Oil, Gold Rise

 | Nov 29, 2021 08:38

  • Despite a market rebound on Monday, some investor concerns remain
  • Oil jumps almost 5% above technical level
  • Bitcoin bounces between gains and losses
  • h2 Key Events/h2

    After Friday's sharp selloff, US futures on the Dow, S&P, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 as well as European shares rebounded in trading on Monday as investors decided markets had overreacted to concerns that the latest COVID-19 variant, Omicron, will weigh on the recent global economic recovery.

    The price of gold rallied and oil pushed past $70 again.

    h2 Global Financial Affairs/h2

    All four US equity futures were trading in the green as the trading week opened, with contracts on the NASDAQ 100 jumping 1.20% at the time of writing, setting itself apart as today's clear leader.

    The tech-heavy index's outperformance may be a sign that traders are still concerned about the new coronavirus strain, otherwise would they not have preferred to bid up value stocks on Dow and Russell 2000 contracts? After all, value shares tend to do better when an economy accelerates.

    Rather, this morning, investors bought into the technology sector, which typically outperforms during periods of risk-off and was the darling of the pandemic. Does this mean there's an expection of a return to lockdowns? The answer isn't clear.

    Indeed, travel and energy firms led an advance of more than 1% for the STOXX 600 Index, paring a 3.7% drop on Friday—the worst slide for the pan-European index since June, coupled with the highest volatility in almost ten months.

    After the South African doctor behind the discovery of Omicron said that symptoms were "extremely mild," stocks in Asia stabilized.

    Japan's Nikkei 225 plunged 1.63%, underperforming the region. China's Shanghai Composite closed nearly flat, recovering from a 1.06% loss.