Page 288 - Rep News Today

Emerging market stocks and currencies retreated on Friday in cautious trade ahead of key U.S. employment data, but were set for strong weekly gains on hopes that the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant would be limited.

The South African rand steadied in early trade on Friday, struggling for momentum as some uncertainty over the Omicron coronavirus variant lingered.

UK's FTSE 100 inched higher on Friday, on course for weekly gains as a jump in commodity-linked stocks helped the blue-chip index shake off gloom around the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars were headed for their fifth week of losses on Friday as the spread of the Omicron variant clouded the outlook for global growth just as markets were pricing in a faster pace of U.S. rate hikes.

Euro zone business activity accelerated last month but the bounce may be temporary as demand growth weakened and fears about the Omicron coronavirus variant put a dent in optimism, a survey showed on Friday.

Stocks fell on Friday after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi said it would delist in New York, renewing concern about U.S.-China tensions and tech regulation, while oil headed for a sixth consecutive weekly drop on Omicron and rate hike worries.

U.S. employment growth slowed considerably in November amid job losses at retailers and in local government education, but the unemployment rate plunged to a 21-month low of 4.2%, suggesting the labor market was rapidly tightening.

Indian shares reversed course to trade lower on Friday as losses in pharma stocks overshadowed gains in energy and banking names, while concerns around the detection of two cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant in the country further weighed on sentiment.

Oil prices climbed on Friday after the producer group OPEC+ said it could review its production hike policy at short notice if oil demand collapsed due to a rising number of lockdowns, while Brent was on course for a sixth week of declines.

Japan's Nikkei share average slid on Friday, dragged down by declines in SoftBank Group and other heavyweights, as investors assessed the impact of the new Omicron coronavirus variant.