| SEVEN DAYS MARKET | |
| 27 NOVEMBER – 03 DECEMBER 2021 | |
| In Essence: | |
| VOLATILITY IN EQUITIES; BOND RATES DECLINE; EUR/USD RANGE-BOUND; BITCOIN <60K | |
| Equities: | |
| US | U.S. stocks jumped Thursday, continuing a tumultuous week for markets driven by uncertainty about the potential impact of the Omicron variant on public health and the economy. |
| EU | European shares inched up on Friday and were set to end a volatile week higher as investors bought stocks hammered by fears around the Omicron variant, although gains were largely muted ahead of the U.S. monthly jobs data. |
| China | Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong plunged after ride-hailing giant Didi announced Friday on social media platform Weibo that it will begin taking steps to delist from the New York Stock Exchange. |
| Debt: | |
| Sovereign | Treasuries declined to retrace part of a late overnight rally that sent the benchmark 30-year rate to the lowest since early January. Investors had flocked to long bonds after the US confirmed its first case of the omicron virus strain. |
| Corporate | Pan-European high-yield credit funds saw the largest outflows in a 2-week range between Nov.25 and Dec.1. Junk bonds were hit particularly hard in the dash to dump risky assets as the emergence of a new virus strain roiled markets |
| FX: | |
| USD/EUR | EUR/USD is sitting exactly in the middle of what could prove a multi-week 1.1180-1.1380 trading range – bordered by Omicron and Fed news. In the view of economists at ING, the November US jobs release could drag the pair down to the lower end of the range. |
| Standouts | The Turkish currency hit a low of 13.47 to the dollar in late afternoon trading, surpassing its previous record low last week of roughly 13.45 to the greenback, following renewed worries over the country’s monetary policy and concerns over omicron variant. |
| Commodities: | |
| Oil | Oil prices climbed on Friday, extending gains after OPEC+ said it would review supply additions ahead of its next scheduled meeting if the omicron variant hits demand, but prices were still on course for a sixth week of declines. |
| Gold | Gold prices rose on Friday but a more hawkish stance of U.S. Federal Reserve officials on stimulus tapering and interest rate rises put the metal on course for a third straight weekly drop. |
| Emerging Markets: | |
| Cryptos | In the week, the crypto market fell Tuesday low $2,490bn before rising to a Wednesday high $2,712bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $2,572bn. Bitcoin’s dominance rose to a Monday high 43.01% before falling to a Thursday low 41.13%. |
| Turkey | Turkish inflation accelerated for a sixth month in November to the highest level in three years, driven by a slump in the lira that continues to cloud consumer price outlook. |