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Key Takeaways:
- A volatile week in stocks, cryptos, and currencies with traders assessing Omicron concerns
- Technology stocks swing between gains and losses as the Nasdaq Composite whipsaws
Global Markets Waver with Omicron in Focus
Global stocks, currencies and crypto assets fluctuated in a volatile manner over the past week. Financial markets experienced renewed jitters as investors weighed Omicron fears, inflation spikes, and fresh economic data.
In more detail, stocks around the world went through another rough week as major indexes swung between gains and losses. Technology stocks, in particular, endured heavy jitters as the Nasdaq Composite whipsawed by more than 1% on Thursday.
Tesla stock continued to slide as CEO Elon Musk remained committed to his promise to sell 10% of his stake in the company. On Thursday, the billionaire, and officially Technoking of Tesla, sold shares worth almost $1 billion. In total, Mr. Musk has now sold nearly $12 billion worth of TSLA stock.
In the meantime, US jobless claims registered their strongest drop in 52 years. Precisely, the US Labor Department said worker filings for unemployment benefits for the week ended Dec. 4 arrived at 184,000. In other words, this was the lowest jobless claims reading since September 1969.
Cryptocurrencies Drop as Momentum Wanes
Moving to cryptocurrency markets, prices of leading tokens dropped over the week as crypto traders mostly retreated from the nascent asset class. To get into specifics, bitcoin’s price dipped below $48,000, after it reached a weekly high of $52,000 per coin. Ether, on the other hand, also logged a decline, although more moderate. The second-biggest crypto floated near $4,000.
As a result of the decreased buying momentum, both bitcoin and Ether posted another week in the red.
Further, the US dollar maintained its dominance over major currencies in forex markets. The EUR/USD finished its dealmaking slightly lower for the week, near 1.1300.