Moderate optimism to start the week

Investors quietly returned from a long weekend, with a pitch of optimism amid reports suggesting that the Omicron variant is much less serious and less likely to end with hospitalizations than the previously known strains, despite being highly contagious, according to reports coming from the UK and South Africa.

Low volumes are the main theme this week, heading into the year-end. The American dollar shed some ground against most major rivals but advanced against the safe-haven yen. USD/JPY trades at 114.90, not far from the year high at 115.51.

The best performer was the British Pound, as GBP/USD reached a fresh December high of 1.3443. The USD/CAD pair fell to 1.2778, as the CAD was supported by higher oil prices and the positive tone of equities in the last trading session of the day.

The EUR/USD pair ticked higher within familiar levels, ending the day with modest gains at around 1.1320. The same goes for AUD/USD, which trades around 0.7240.

Gold prices ticked higher, and approached $1,814.23 a troy ounce, its December high. It finished the day at around $1.890.00. Crude oil prices were firmly up, with WTI trading at $75.50 a barrel.

Wall Street edged higher, with all the major indexes posting substantial gains. European indexes also traded with a positive tone, shrugging off the poor tone of their Asian counterparts.

US Treasury yields ticked lower amid the optimistic mood, with the 10-year bond yield holding below 1.50%.