Economy is back on track, but still chased by Omicron

News for today, December 21:

Omicron cases are spreading rapidly across Europe and the United States. Doubling every two or three days it caused a sharp sell-off in share markets. U.S. stock indexes retreated more than 1% as positive COVID-19 case counts rose. Japan's Nikkei rose 2% after two sessions of decline. COVID still remains a threat to the global economy, investors stay alerted.

Helping the tone Tuesday was the news from Moderna that the U.S. drugmaker could develop a booster shot to protect against the Omicron variant in a relatively short period.

Oil prices rose Tuesday, rebounding after a couple of days of sharp selling, and investors now await U.S. crude oil supply data from the American Petroleum Institute, due later in the day.

The price of Brent crude is $ 71,50 per barrel, WTI — $ 68,87. EUR/USD is at 1.1294, GBP/USD — 1.3254, gold is at $ 1,797.65 per ounce.­­­­