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.
Dollar rises for fourth straight day
The US dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Monday, to head for the fourth daily gain in row, amid growing expectations of an imminent US interest rate hike, and after fears over the Omicron variant receded.
The dollar index rose 0.25% to 96.38 points, after opening at 96.15 points, and hit a low at 96.14 points.
The index gained less than 0.1% on Friday, the third straight daily gain, thanks to improved investors' risk appetite.
The greenback gained 0.1% last week, the sixth straight weekly gain, after the hawkish statements of the Federal Reserve Chairman.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell expressed to the US Congress that monetary policy makers will consider taking faster action to reduce bond buying during the December meeting.
President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Mary Daly, said that it might be time to make a plan to raise interest rates to combat inflation.
These statements increased the market pricing of a US rate hike by 25 basis points in June 2022 to 100%.
The South African Medical Research Council published that early observations in Pretoria showed that most Covid-19 patients are not dependent on receiving oxygen.