Peter Nurse 

Investing.com reports that European stock market will open marginally lower Thursday. This is in continuation of the rally, which comes amid increasing confidence that global economic recovery will be sustained despite the influx Omicron variant cases.

At 02:05 ET (07:00 GMT), Germany’s contract traded mostly flat. France saw a 0.4% increase and the U.K. contract rose 0.5%.

After the positive close of Wall Street’s overnight session, equity indexes in Asia traded strongly Thursday. This was their third consecutive session of gains. Investors in Europe are expected to feel relief from positive signs concerning the future impact of Covid-19 omicron.

Two studies were released Wednesday by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, major universities in South Africa, and Imperial College London. They showed that Omicron coronavirus strains are less likely to cause severe illness and hospitalizations than the Delta.

On Thursday, the U.K. Health Security Agency is expected to publish data about the severity of Omicron variant. 

Adding to the positive tone was U.S. improving further in December, suggesting the U.S. economy, the world’s main driver, continues to recover strongly. Japan raised its projections of growth for next year, which will begin in April. This is the highest growth rate since fiscal 2010.

However, Thursday’s gains will be restricted by holiday investors and the Omicron variant, which causes infections to double within 1.5-3 days according to the World Health Organization. For the first time, Wednesday saw more than 100,000 cases per day in the United Kingdom.  

Swiss Building Materials Company, Corporate News Holcim (SIX: ) announced it would buy Malarkey Roofing Products residential roofing company in a deal worth $1.35billion to grow into the U.S. market.

Ryanair (LON. ) might also be the focus after Ryanair doubled its full year loss forecast late Wednesday, citing new travel restrictions in large markets.

Oil prices edged higher Thursday, helped by a sharp decline in stockpiles which suggests continued demand from the world’s largest consumer.

It was announced late Wednesday night that crude inventories had fallen 4.72 Million barrels in the last week. This marks the fourth weekly draw. This drop was larger than that reported Tuesday by the, who indicated that crude stocks had fallen by 3.67million barrels.

U.S. crude futures were 0.1% higher by midnight ET at $72.86/barrel. They closed Wednesday over $72 for only the second time in two week. Contracts rose 0.1% to $75.31 

The price of gold rose 0.2% to $1.806.50/oz while it traded 0.1% lower at 1.1336