Global Stocks Surge as Economic Recovery Gains Traction Spurred by Virus Research

Stocks experienced an upswing on Thursday as new COVID-19 research studies gave credence to the possibility of a global economic recovery in spite of the Omicron variant.

MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific index surged for the third consecutive day while Hong Kong’s tech stocks experienced a drop. European futures and U.S. stocks remained stable after reports of the Omicron’s relatively milder symptoms and impact informed markets.

U.K. researchers have observed lower hospitalization rates for the Omicron compared to the other variants of the coronavirus. Additionally, South Africa is also reportedly seeing less new Omicron cases which seem to indicate an inevitable fade out of the newest variant in the country.

As of this month, global stocks rose by 2% which has contributed to the hike in the annual index by 15%, with the possibility of outdoing 2020’s economic performance. Carol Schleif, Deputy Chief Investment officer at BMO Family told Bloomberg, “Markets hate uncertainty and not knowing, and when omicron hit the markets, we didn’t know.” However, Schleif contended that the current trends indicate “it’s edging toward something more positive.”