Asian stocks and oil prices plummeted due to the Omicron variant that has caused Europe to ‘shut down’ and threaten the world economy ahead of the approaching new year.
S&P 500 futures led the decline by falling 0.7% while Nasdaq futures were down 0.6%.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific broad index outside Japan was down 0.4% and Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.7%.
The spread of Omicron saw the Netherlands implement sanctions that would be followed by other European countries has caused inflation risks to increase and pushed central banks more hawkish.
Earlier, US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials had stated a rate hike by March next year that would affect the central bank’s balance sheet by mid-2022.
The yield of the U.S. 10 -year note fell 1.38% down from a 2021 peak of 1.776%.
The dollar index hit its best level this year at 96.665 following the Fed’s hawkish decision and safe haven flows that supported it from a 0.7% jump on Friday.
The euro fell $ 1.1241, approaching this year's lowest ever reached at $ 1.1184 while the safe haven -status Japanese Yen remained at 113.63 per dollar.
Oil prices continued to decline amid concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant with Brent down $ 1.56 at $ 71.96 a barrel while US crude fell $ 1.43 at $ 69.43 a barrel.
Gold prices are firm at $ 1,801 per ounce.
