In This Article:
* U.S. stock futures, European shares higher
* Nikkei slips as Japan closes borders to foreigners
* Omicron spreads, but markets hope effects will be mild
* Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh (Updates throughout)
By Dhara Ranasinghe
LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A semblance of calm returned to world markets on Monday as investors waited for more details to assess the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the world economy, allowing battered stocks and oil prices to rebound.
European shares rallied over 1%, U.S. stock futures pointed to a firm Wall Street open, oil prices bounced more than $3 and safe-haven bonds lost ground as markets latched onto hopes the new variant of concern would prove milder than initially feared.
News of the variant triggered alarm and a sell-off on Friday that wiped roughly $2 trillion off the value of global stocks, as countries slapped on new curbs for fear it could resist vaccinations and upend a nascent economic re-opening after a two-year global pandemic.
Omicron has now been found as far afield as Canada and Australia. The World Health Organisation said Monday the heavily mutated variant poses a very high risk of infection surges.
Still, investors drew comfort from signs that its impact may not be as grave as feared. In Southern Africa, where the new strain was detected last week, a top infectious disease expert said existing COVID-19 vaccines are probably effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalisation.
Though experts said it was too early to say for certain how severe the illness caused by the variant will be, a South African doctor who was one of the first to suspect a new strain said on Sunday patients so far appeared to have mild symptoms.
"We're all still reaching around in the dark and will need more data, but things do seem a bit more hopeful than they were on Friday," said BlueBay Asset Management CIO Mark Dowding.
S&P 500 futures added 0.85% and Nasdaq futures , 1%. Both indexes suffered their sharpest fall in months on Friday with travel and airline stocks hit hard.
Europe's STOXX 600 index rallied 1%, having on Friday suffered its biggest one-day fall since June 2020. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.4%, but found support ahead of its 2021 low. Japan's blue-chip Nikkei fell 1.6% as the country moved to bar foreigners to head off the Omicron strain.
And having plunged more than 10% on Friday in their biggest one-day drop since April 2020, oil prices rallied more than 4%. Brent crude oil futures stood at around $76 a barrel, U.S. crude rose 4.9% to $71.46.