Investors remained concerned about both the efficiency of existing vaccines against the new Omicron strain as well as about the significant economic risk it poses. This new variant is putting central banks in a difficult situation as they will now be torn between taking hawkish measures to tackle rising inflation, and keeping the extremely dovish policies in place in order to sustain growth with the economic recovery now threatened by this strain.
This uncertainty is being reflected on most indices after investors decided to significantly reduce their exposure to risk assets, which wiped trillions of dollars off stock markets in just a few days.
Of course, the prospect of new restrictions before Christmas puts a lot of pressure on energy and travel & leisure stocks, who are among today’s worst performers.
