Kevin Buckland

TOKYO (Reuters – Asian stock markets fell on Monday due to uncertainty surrounding the Omicron coronavirus variation’s economic impact on investors.

Over the last three days, thousands of U.S. flights have been cancelled or delayed by COVID-19-related staff shortfalls. Several cruise ships were forced to cancel their stops due to outbreaks at sea.

China saw its largest daily increase in COVID-19 local cases over 21 months. This was due to infections that more than doubled at Xian in northwestern China, which is the latest COVID hotspot.

South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.20%, while the Loss was 0.11%

However, mainland Chinese shares were mixed. Shanghai’s benchmark fell 0.37% while an index of blue chip stocks edged up 0.05%.

Australia, Hong Kong, Britain and Canada are all closed Monday for holidays.

According to a Japanese market participant, “There are concerns about the spread of Omicron, which is ultimately making people cautiously about taking stock higher” in Japan.

Wall Street trades resume later on the global day after Friday’s holiday. U.S. stocks closed below records Thursday due to signs Omicron might cause milder illness. However, there was an increase in Omicron cases worldwide.

Emini futures suggest a 0.1% gain for the time it reopens.

The U.S. Dollar continued to trade at the bottom of its recent range against major peers in foreign currency markets. It had reached a 16 month high in November, when Federal Reserve policymakers became more hawkish.

The value of 96.116 was close to flat, in the middle of the range between 95.544 and the Nov. 24 peak at 96.938, which is 16 months old.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures declined 59 cents per barrel to $73.20/barrel in crude markets. Because of Friday’s U.S. markets holiday, the contract was not traded on Friday.

However, the price of oil rose 26 cents per barrel to $76.40/barrel. This rebounded from Friday’s drop of 71c.