Hong Kong — Asian stocks were firmer on Tuesday after Wall Street’s record highs on its first trading day of 2022, despite worries that the widespread Omicron Covid-19 variant could put the brakes on the global economic recovery.
Major Wall Street indices scored record closing highs on Monday, even as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus pushed Covid-19 cases to fresh peaks in the world’s largest economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.68%, the S&P 500 gained 0.64% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.2%. The benchmark US 10-year treasuries hit a six-week high to yield 1.6384%, with investors expecting a series of interest rate raises this year to combat rising inflation.