Asia markets off to a cautious start as Omicron spreads, US CPI looms

 A mixed US jobs report did little to shake market expectations of a more aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve

Photo: Bloomberg

Asian share markets got off to a cautious start on Monday as Omicron emerged in more countries and investors faced a week-long wait for key U.S. inflation figures that could settle the course of interest rates.

A mixed U.S. jobs report did little to shake market expectations of a more aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve and the consumer price report due on Friday was likely to make the case for an early tapering.

Omicron remained a concern as the variant spread to about one-third of U.S. states, though there were reports from South Africa that cases there had mild symptoms. [

Early trade was sluggish as MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched down 0.2%.

Japan's Nikkei eased 0.7%, even as the government considered raising its...read more

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