- On Thursday, the dollar hit a three-month low, while US stock futures stalled following strong index gains fuelled by China's softer attitude on COVID and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's confirmation of a slower US rate-hiking pace.
- A day after Powell's remarks helped the underlying benchmark end November with a second month of gains for the first time in more than a year, S&P 500 contracts remained stable. Following a 4.5% increase on Wednesday, stocks on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell more, with notable drops in US-listed China Stocks that had benefited from news of China's economic reopening.
- With Europe's Stoxx 600 benchmark up more than 0.5% and a variety of regional indexes on the verge of bull market territory after rising nearly 20% from their September lows, other markets continued to soar. A global stock market indicator reached a three-month high.
- Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, China's top official in charge of the Coronavirus war, declared that the reaction was entering a new phase as the omicron strain was diminishing and more Chinese were receiving vaccinations. Beijing further suggested that some people with COVID should isolate at home.
