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South Africa's rand bounced back in early trade on Thursday, after again breaching the 16.00 mark to the dollar in the previous session as the Omicron coronavirus variant established itself as the dominant strain in South Africa.

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Most Asian currencies eased and stocks advanced on Thursday, amid some caution among investors as they assessed the potential economic fallout from the Omicron coronavirus variant, while the South Korean won firmed on increased bets of a rate hike.

Saudi Arabian shares were little changed in morning trade on Thursday as investors kept to the sidelines after the state news agency said the kingdom had reported its first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

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U.S. natural gas futures edged up on Thursday with a small decline in output after dropping to a three-month low in the prior session as the market awaited direction from a federal report expected to show a bigger than usual storage withdrawal during last week's colder than normal weather.

The Kenyan shilling is expected to test fresh record lows against the dollar in the next week, while the Nigerian naira will also be under pressure from holidays-related demand for hard currency.

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The Canadian dollar barely moved against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, holding near its lowest level in over two months as investors weighed the global economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant and looked ahead to domestic data.

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