By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly down on Friday morning, with investors continuing to evaluate the risks from the new omicron COVID-19 variant. U.S. Treasury yields saw a decrease after U.S. Federal Reserve comments that suggested it may accelerate asset tapering.

China’s edged up 0.11% by 9:23 PM ET (2:23 AM GMT) while the edged up 0.18%. In November, the, which was released by, stood at 52.1.

Hong Kong-listed developer Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.

Hong Kong’s slid 1.27%.

Japan’s was down 0.21% and South Korea’s inched down 0.10%.

Australia’s inflation rate has fallen to 0.10%

Fed officials Randal Quarles (Fed Governor), Raphael Bostic (Atlant Fed President) and Mary Daly, San Francisco Fed President, presented the case for asset tapering faster. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell holds a similar stance, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying she understands the “reasoning” behind the Fed’s plans.

Investors remain cautious despite the fact that some concerns about Omicron have subsided over optimism that existing vaccines will continue to be effective and/or adjusted.

“The environment in markets is changing,” Citigroup Private Bank chief investment strategist Steven Wieting told Bloomberg.

“Monetary policy, fiscal policy are all losing steam. It doesn’t mean a down market. But it’s not going to be like the rebound, the sharp recovery that we had for almost every asset in the past year.”

The data side, 22.22,000 U.S. filed during the week. Investors are now awaiting the U.S. Jobs Report, which is due to be published later today.

After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finalized plans for implementing a new law, Chinese shares that are listed on the U.S. Stock Exchange suffered losses Thursday. The law requires foreign companies to either open up their books, or face being removed from the New York Stock Exchange (Nasdaq) within three years.

Didi Global Inc. (NYSE 🙂 will start preparations for delisting from the New York Stock Exchange to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company announced earlier today.

Grab Holdings Ltd.’s shares plummeted on Thursday as they began trading on the NASDAQ. The listing follows the company’s merger with Altimeter Growth Corp., approved on Tuesday, and the largest deal to date for a special-purpose acquisition company.