In Asian Equity Markets Japan’s Nikkei index fell on Thursday as investors turned cautious ahead of key central bank meetings next week, although strong gains for airlines limited losses with Omicron fears continuing to recede. The Nikkei 225 declined 0.15 percent to 28,818.53 as of the lunch break, but had earlier touched a nearly two-week intraday high of 28,908.29. The S&P/ASX 200 index settled 0.3 percent lower at 7,384.5. At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.03 percent at 3,675.04 points. China’s blue-chip CSI300 index was up 1.76 percent.

In Currency Markets this week’s rally in risk-friendly assets and currencies like the Australian dollar petered out on Thursday, but the U.S. dollar struggled to regain its lost ground as investors waited for a key Federal Reserve policy meeting due next week. The Aussie dollar was steady at $0.7171 just off Wednesday’s week high, while the euro sat at $1.1331, after jumping 0.7 percent on Wednesday to a week high of 1.1335. Expectations of U.S. tapering had helped the dollar index rise to over a year high in late November, before Omicron’s emergence sent it lower.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Wednesday with the three major indexes managing their third straight day of gains after test data showed the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech offered some protection against the new Omicron variant. The Dow rose 0.1 percent, to 35,754.75, the S&P 500 gained 0.31 percent, to 4,701.21 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.64 percent, to 15,786.99. So-called reopening stocks were among the S&P’s top gainers on Wednesday. These included Norwegian Cruise Line, up 8 percent, Carnival Corp, up 5.5 percent and Royal Caribbean, up 5.2 percent.

In Commodities Markets oil prices ended higher in a back-and-forth session on Wednesday, maintaining a positive tone as investors no longer expect the Omicron coronavirus variant to derail global economic growth. Brent crude futures settled at $75.82, up 0.5 percent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude ended at $72.36 a barrel, up 0.4 percent. Spot gold was little changed at $1,784.72 per ounce. Spot silver shed 0.3 percent to $22.41 per ounce, platinum fell 0.3 percent to $948.48 per ounce and palladium lost 0.9 percent to $1,835.90.

In European Equity Markets stocks ended a volatile session lower on Wednesday after marking their strongest two-day gain in more than a year, with tech and luxury stocks reversing strong gains as investors pitted vaccine reassurances against COVID-19 curbs. After jumping 3.8 percent over the past two days, the region-wide STOXX 600 index closed down 0.6 percent. Shares in Nestle SA rose 1.6 percent to hit an all-time high, boosting the Swiss index to fresh peaks, after the company trimmed its stake in French beauty giant L’Oreal.

In Bond Markets the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose for a third straight day on Wednesday, as drugmakers Pfizer and BioNtech announced positive results for their COVID-19 vaccine in a laboratory test against the new Omicron variant. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was up 3.3 basis points to 1.513 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up 5.3 basis points to 1.848 percent. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was up 2.2 basis points at 0.712 percent.