Apparently skipping variant Xi in favor of Omicron did not help global markets today as the equity markets in the Middle East have had a bad day.
Israel is down a nice 1.8% but was down almost 4% earlier in the day so the government lockdown and bailout talks must have started working.
Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia the fear of another global economic slowdown with the new variant has spooked oil markets and the Tadawul to an almost 5% decline:
The new virus scare in the region is so bad that the Arab News (Saudi Arabia) focused on it in their headline story this morning:
The new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, has prompted global economic concerns, as fears of its spread begin to affect stock markets and oil prices.
Saudi Arabia’s main market, the Tadawul All Share Index, opened 5.3 percent lower on Sunday, trading near 10,700 points.
The Dubai Financial Market was down 8.49 percent in early trading, with developer Emaar Properties losing 7.9 percent, while budget airline Air Arabia plunged 7.1 percent.
In Abu Dhabi, the index dropped 2.3 percent, led by a 3.1 percent fall for First Abu Dhabi Bank, the UAE’s biggest lender, and a 3 percent drop for telecommunications firm Etisalat.
The nations in the region are already beginning to shut the barn door after all the horses and cows have escaped:
#GACA directs airliners to suspend flights from 7 countries. pic.twitter.com/ge07ER7eCz
— هيئة الطيران المدني (@ksagaca) November 27, 2021
The oil markets are already heading into a sever down turn with the possibility of a correction easily becoming a bear market in short order so look for more price declines when the market opens. This will not be good for the region’s markets nor other energy producing nation’s economies.
Barring some sort of major headlines this afternoon, look for the US markets to bounce in the pre-market then possibly roll over by Tuesday. Keep in mind all of this hysteria is based on European headlines for a China Virus variant that is probably already in the U.S. When that headline hits, look for a severe test of the 50 day moving average which will spook the political elites into more inept and ill-advised action.
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