Asian stock markets follow Wall St up as Omicron fears ease
CTV
Asian stock markets rose Friday after Wall Street hit a new high as fears of the coronavirus's Omicron variant eased.
Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Shanghai declined.
Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.6% on Thursday in the last U.S. trading session before Christmas.
Investor anxiety has mounted as Omicron spread but moderated after authorities said it might cause less severe illness. President Joe Biden called for more vaccinations and testing but announced no plans for travel restrictions.
Omicron looks like a "short-term disruption" instead of a "destructive headwind that knocks the economy off its course," Edward Moya of Oanda said in a report. "The U.S. economic recovery in 2022 still looks very strong."
Stock prices, bond yields and bitcoin surged Wednesday as voters returned former U.S. president Donald Trump to the White House and the Republican party gained control of the Senate.
Employers at British Columbia ports say they are going ahead with locking out more than 700 foremen across the province after strike activities from union members began.
Warren Buffett is collecting a steady stream of profits from all of Berkshire Hathaway's assorted businesses, including Apple, without any major acquisitions.
Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal started a new strike Thursday morning, forcing the indefinite shutdown of two container terminals at the country's second biggest port.