Oil extends gains, Brent jumps above $72
Oil prices rose on Monday, despite the US dollar's rise against most currencies, amid optimism about the Omicron variant and after Saudi Arabia raised its oil exports prices.
Saudi Arabia raised official selling prices for all crude grades sold to Asia and the US by up to 80 cents from the previous month.
US Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci said that the risks of the Omicron variant may have been exaggerated, noting that may be less dangerous than Delta.
The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.2% to 96.3 points as of 17:49 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.3 points and a low of 96.1 points.
As of 17:44 GMT, WTI January futures rose 3.2% to $68.4 a barrel.
Brent February futures rose 3.1% to $72.02 a barrel.
Aussie rises as Omicron concerns recede
The Australian dollar rose against most currencies on Monday, amid optimism about the Omicron variant.
US Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci said that the risks of the Omicron variant may have been exaggerated, noting that may be less dangerous than Delta.
Fauci stated that the initial data from South Africa are encouraging and optimistic, and there is no evidence about the number of mutations in this variant, but the Delta variant is more wide-spread than it.
Cases of Omicron have already appeared in the US, Europe and Asia, but with mild symptoms and no deaths have been reported.
As of 17:00 GMT, AUD/USD rose 0.7% to 0.7047, after hitting a high of 0.7055 and a low of 0.6994.
US stocks open higher, Dow Jones jumps over 500 points
Most of the US stock indices rose on Monday, lifted by the energy sector as concerns over the Omicron variant eased.
US Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci said that the risks of the Omicron variant may have been exaggerated, noting that may be less dangerous than Delta.
Cases of Omicron have already appeared in the US, Europe and Asia, but with mild symptoms and no deaths have been reported.
The US Department of Labor reported today that the economy has added 210,000 new jobs in November, missing forecasts of 570,000 new jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.2% from 4.6% in September, better than forecasts of 4.5%.
As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 1.5% or 523 points to 35,113 as of 15:04 GMT, and S&P 500 rose 0.4% or 18 points to 4,557, while Nasdaq fell 0.6% or 66 point to 15,018.
Copper edges higher, shrugs off rising dollar and pandemic worries
Copper prices rose on Monday, despite the US dollar's rise against most currencies, as markets continued to focus on the Omicron variant and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
US Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci said that the risks of the Omicron variant may have been exaggerated, noting that may be less dangerous than Delta.
Cases of Omicron have already appeared in the US, Europe and Asia, but with mild symptoms and no deaths have been reported.
The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 96.2 points as of 14:37 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.3 points and a low of 96.1 points.
Copper March futures rose 0.9% to $4.30 per pound as of 14:30 GMT.