The Threat of Omicron Rattles Wall Street and Sinks Stocks
Asian shares were mixed Wednesday amid nervous trading due to worries over the newest coronavirus variant.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 0.8% in morning trading to 28,062.99, after gyrating earlier in the session. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.1% to 2,869.67. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.4% to 7,229.40. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.3% to 23,787.71, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching down less than 0.1% to 3,563.03.
The detection of the omicron variant in Japan, as well as Brazil, announced Tuesday, has raised fears that further measures to contain infections would squelch tourism and other economic activity. Experts say it may take weeks before they know more details about whether the omicron variant causes serious illness.
