News of yet another coronavirus strain rattled traders on Friday. Both Asian and especially European stock markets tumbled following reports of African cases from another variant, appropriately tagged “Nu”. US shares duly followed suit later in the day.
The news splashed cold water on the market exuberance propping up stock markets around the world. Inflation fretters will puzzle over Brent prices collapsing 6 per cent.
This year, a rally in energy commodities has fomented global inflation worries. So much so that the two largest energy consumers, the US and China, this week jointly released oil from their respective strategic reserves to encourage Opec to raise its output. But until seasonally low global inventories pick up, Opec may well choose to ignore this pressure from consuming nations.