Market Drivers – Asian Session 27-12-2021

Japanese stocks closed lower on Monday with SoftBank Group leading losses as concerns over the fallout from the mutated Omicron from the coronavirus outweighed the positive impact of gains in technology heavyweights.

The Nikkei index fell 0.37 percent to close at 28,676.46 points, while the broader Topix index fell 0.45 percent to 1977.90 points.

Japan’s Industry Ministry said on Monday it will hold an auction on Feb. 9 to sell about 100,000 kiloliters (628,980 barrels) of crude oil from its national reserves as part of a coordinated U.S.-led process of drawing down reserves to cool prices.

Gold prices stabilized on Monday, above $1,800 an ounce, as US Treasury yields resisted the dollar’s rise, Reuters reported.

Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,809.27 an ounce and continued to climb above $1,800 since closing above that level last week, and US gold futures rose slightly at $1,810.80.

European shares fell in limited trading due to the Christmas holiday on Monday as risk appetite was hit after the mutant Omicron led to a spike in COVID-19 cases globally.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.2 percent after Asian shares were mixed.