Global stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street hit a high and new daily U.S. coronavirus cases surged to a record.
London and Frankfurt opened lower and Tokyo and Seoul also declined. Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced.
Markets are "hanging onto thin optimism" while health care resources do a "balancing act," Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank said in a report. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent and the Dow added 0.2 per cent. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1 per cent.The benchmark, which also set records on Monday and on Dec. 23, hit more new highs in 2021 than in any year since the 77 in 1954. The Dow set a record in early November.
The Kospi in Seoul declined 0.5 per cent to 2,977.65 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added less than 0.1 per cent to 7,513.40. That has been tempered by the Federal Reserve's decision to try to cool U.S. inflation, which is at a nearly four-decade high, by rolling back stimulus that has boosted stock prices.
Still, markets are uncertain about the impact of omicron, which is spreading fast and quickly becoming the dominant variant.
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