A new year is upon us, and the smell of optimism is in the air, with US markets having finished their first day of trading in 2022 at record levels.
Investors seem to be positive that the latest surges in COVID-19 will not be as serious as assumed before the Christmas period. Indeed, it does now appear that the Omicron variant is milder than earlier waves of the pandemic.
This is good news for stocks which have suffered strongly at the hands of the pandemic, such as brick and mortar retailers and travel stocks.
Among the key data to be released today is the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing data for December and Job Openings information. These should indicate whether we can expect supply chain disruption to continue or improve in 2022.
Here is some of this morning’s biggest stock market news:
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has become the first company with a market value of $3trn, having tripled in value over the past four years.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported delivery of more than 300,000 vehicles in its fourth quarter, well ahead of consensus estimates of around 260,000. This meant that the company’s full year vehicle deliveries increased by 87% compared to in 2020, with around 936,000 Tesla vehicles finding their way to customers during 2021.
Drug development stock GenPrex (NASDAQ: GNPX) has soared after its Reqorsa cancer treatment was granted fast track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration.
There has also been good news for US aviation stocks. AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) have agreed to delay installation of new wireless technologies which could have threatened to disrupt flights, giving parties a chance to come up with further safety measures.
Airlines and travel companies such as Easyjet (LON: EZJ) and International Airlines Group (LON: IAG) have climbed amid speculation that the UK government could loosen COVID-related travel restrictions.
Between this and renewed pandemic optimism, airline stocks such as United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) and American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) have moved higher.
Other travel stocks, such as Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH) have also climbed.
Take a look at some of the top stories from Asia:
Evergrande Group (HK: 3333) shares were briefly suspended from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as the real estate giant’s debt problems continue. Meanwhile the company revealed its plans to demolish 39 buildings on a resort island but insisted that this will not interfere with its home development project on the island.
China’s cybersecurity regulator has dealt a blow to companies wishing to list overseas. The organisation says companies which possess data from more than one million customers will need to conduct security reviews before listing abroad.
Finally, here are some of Tuesday’s key cryptocurrency stories:
Bitcoin (BTC) has dipped below $47,000 as investors turn to USD or Ethereum (ETH) as alternatives.
Japanese videogame developer Square Enix (TYO: 9684) is one of the latest parties to announce its intentions to jump into the crypto space. The company’s President, Yosuke Matsuda, said Square Enix had a blockchain games strategy and hinted that the company could further capitalise on the popularity of NFTs in the year ahead.