Asian stock markets are trading mixed on Monday, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, as concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus Omicron variant led to a cautious mood in the markets. The much weaker-than-expected U.S. job growth in November also raised some concerns the Federal Reserve is not expected to deviate from accelerating the tapering of its asset purchases. Asian markets closed mostly higher on Friday.
The World Health Organization said today that the new coronavirus variant, which was first spotted in South Africa, has now been detected in 38 countries. It has also been detected in at least five states in the U.S.
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Market Analysis
April 17, 2026 15:29 ET The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to raise concerns for policymakers who worry about the impact of the supply shock and high energy prices on the real economy. Producer price data and various survey results on the housing market were the main news from the U.S. this week. In Europe, industrial production data for the euro area gained attention. GDP figures out of China and the policy move by the Singapore central bank were in focus in Asia.