Stocks, oil rebound as calm returns after Omicron variant hit

A semblance of calm returned to world markets on Monday as investors waited for more details to assess the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the world economy, allowing battered stock markets and oil prices to recover.

European shares and U.S. stock futures firmed, oil prices bounced more than $3 a barrel, while safe-haven bonds lost ground as markets latched onto hopes the new variant of concern would prove to be “mild”.

News of the variant triggered alarm and a sell-off on Friday that wiped roughly $2 trillion off the value of global stocks, as countries clamped on new curbs for fear it could resist vaccinations and upend a nascent economic re-opening after a two-year global pandemic.