Investors are keeping a close eye on the meeting of OPEC and other major producers later in the day to see if they decide to pause their monthly output increasesHONG KONG - Asian markets were mixed Thursday and oil edged up with traders still trying to claw back their latest Omicron-induced losses but still full of uncertainty after Wall Street suffered a late plunge in response to the United States reporting its first case.
Traders were already feeling uneasy in recent weeks on concerns about the sharp rise in prices around the world caused by supply chain snarls, a spike in energy costs, and a labour shortage. Meanwhile, the OECD grouping of major industrialised nations warned the mutated strain threatens the global recovery and cut its growth outlook for this year.
Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, and Jakarta all fell but Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei and Manila rose.