Stocks Climb as Virus Studies Stir Recovery Hopes: Markets Wrap

Stocks advanced Thursday after the latest coronavirus studies stirred hopes that the global recovery can weather the omicron flareup.

Japan helped MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific share index rise for a third day. Technology stocks in Hong Kong lagged amid a slide in JD.com Inc. on Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s plan to distribute shares in the online retailer as a one-time dividend. Trading volumes thinned in many markets ahead of Christmas.

European futures were in the green and U.S. contracts were steady after the S&P 500 closed in on its record high. Brighter U.S. consumer confidence and home sales aided sentiment, as did studies signaling omicron may be less likely to land patients in hospital than the delta variant.

But officials remain cautious since omicron spreads quickly. In China, the city of Xi’an was locked down to curb a Covid outbreak, the latest escalation in the nation’s efforts to extinguish local transmission of the delta strain.