Reuters
European shares gain as ‘buy the dip’ trumps Omicron fears
European shares rose on Tuesday, bucking the weakness in Asia and on Wall Street, as investors looked beyond the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant and sought to buy any dip in stock prices ahead of a slew of central bank decisions this week. Despite fears that the Omicron variant is leading to another round of government restrictions that will slow economic growth, stock markets have held up well and rebounded fast – the S&P 500 last week enjoyed its strongest week since early February. There is plenty for investors to be nervous about ahead of a series of central bank meetings including from the Federal Reserve, when traders are poised for policymakers to signal the pace of interest rate rises needed to curb inflation, as well as from the European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and Bank of England. “Everyone has their hands in their pockets at the moment, first because of the major (central bank) events that are coming up and also because most people had a fairly successful year and don’t want to blow it at the end of the year,” said Colin Asher, Senior Economist at Japanese bank Mizuho.
