On Christmas Eve, European markets opened mixed in a light trading session, with traders keeping a close eye on the latest developments around the omicron COVID-19 variant.
According to IG index data, the FTSE 100 in the United Kingdom was a whisker above the flatline, while the CAC in France fell 0.2 percent. Germany, Italy, and Switzerland’s stock exchanges are closed, and the London trading session will stop at 12.30 p.m. GMT.
Market players are misrepresenting circumstance over and tighter central policies with signs that the heavily mutated omicron the viral strain is gentler than older forms such as delta.
Some studies of the UK this week stated that the patients of omicron don’t have to get admitted to hospitals because omicron symptoms are not that high.
People infected with omicron are 80 percent less likely to be admitted to hospitals than those infected with other strains, according to a non-peer-reviewed study from South Africa. However, the authors speculated that this could be partly attributable to the application’s stronger immunity, while South African health experts emphasized that the findings should not be applied globally.
A different study in Scotland, also not peer-reviewed, suggests omicron is two-thirds less likely to result in hospitalization than delta.
The UK Health Security Agency backed up the findings on Thursday, which stated that those with omicron were 50-70 percent less likely to be admitted to the hospital.
More good news for COVID-19 came on Thursday when the US government granted emergency permission to Merck’s antiviral tablet for COVID-19, just a day after Pfizer received approval for a similar medicine.
The Bank of England is also taking a Hawkish procedure and becoming the first prominent central bank to roam interest rates since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The U.S. market will close on Friday on the occasion of Christmas Eve.
