(Bloomberg). U.S. Equity futures gained while Asian stocks were thinly traded as investors considered the effect of the micron variant on global recovery. Hong Kong suspended the shares of China Evergrande Group, a troubled company.

The new year saw contracts rise, while major markets such as Australia, Japan, China and China closed due to holidays in Asia. Hong Kong’s benchmark gauge fell, dragged down by developers and tech companies, while equities pared gains in South Korea and Taiwan. were little changed.

Last year “was simply a period of ‘risk on,’” Jefferies strategists led by Sean Darby wrote in a note. “Peering into 2022, we expect volatility to rise, meaning that the return per unit of risk comes to the forefront.”

The omicron Covid-19 variant is gaining momentum, but it appears less serious than other variants. This can be attributed to the higher rate of hospitalizations. The Federal Reserve’s policy direction into 2022 is also being watched by investors, especially as inflation remains a problem. 

There’s a “positive setup into 2022 with Fed and Covid headwinds to ease, and China policy tailwinds,” JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:) strategists led by Mixo Das in Hong Kong, wrote in a report Sunday. “Overall, our economists see less disruption to economic activity and above trend global growth this quarter, particularly in Asia. In terms of Fed tightening, the moment of peak disruption for markets may also be passing.”

Asia’s factory activity continued to expand in December, according to a slew of data released Monday, boosted by resilient demand and the easing of supply-chain bottlenecks.

Although Evergrande trade was halted, Chinese developers shares plummeted amid reports in local media that Evergrande had been given an order to demolish apartment blocks in a Hainan project.

The oil price edged up as the output from Libya fell before the OPEC+ meeting, which was held Tuesday to discuss policy regarding production.

Here’s what to look out for this week

• The minutes of Wednesday’s FOMC meeting will be published
• Fed’s Bullard discusses the U.S. economy and monetary policy in an event on Thursday
• Fed’s Daly discusses monetary policy on a panel Friday
• ECB’s Schnabel speaks on a panel Saturday

Our MLIV blog offers more information about market analysis.

These are the top market moves:

Stocks

• London: The rate of change was 0.4% at 7:05 AM.
• Gained 0.5%
• South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.4%
• Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.3%
• – 0.6%
• Futures were unchanged

Currencies

• The yen fell 0.2% to 115.33
• Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index grew 0.2%
• The euro dropped 0.2% to 1.1344

Bonds

• Cash Treasuries in Asia and the U.K. are closed Monday
• Last week, the yield on 10 year Treasuries was at 1.51%
• Australia’s 10-year yields rose four basis points to 1.67% on Friday

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.8% to $75.81 per barrel
• 1.2% drop in gold to $1.825.54 an troy ounce

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.