The World Health Organization warned that the latest variant of the new crown virus discovered in South Africa may cause a surge in the number of infections and have "serious consequences", signs that it makes the new crown virus more transmissible. South African scientists said that the new strain seems to be more transmissible, but the existing vaccine may still prevent the disease from progressing to severe. WHO assesses that the risk of this variant is "extremely high" and calls on member states to conduct extensive testing. The WHO said it would take days or weeks to learn about the new strain.

When Fed Chairman Jerome Powell first spoke publicly about his views on the mutant virus strain omicron, he said that this poses a risk to the Fed’s task of achieving price stability and full employment. "The recent increase in new crown infection cases and the emergence of omicron variants have brought downside risks to employment and economic activities, and inflationary uncertainty has risen," Powell said in a pre-prepared testimony statement released on Monday. "Rising concerns about the virus may reduce people's willingness to go to work, which will slow down the labor market and exacerbate supply chain disruption."

BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson are studying to adjust the existing new crown vaccine to prevent the mutant strain omicron. Among them, Pfizer's German partner BioNTech said that if necessary, this vaccine may be developed within 100 days. BioNTech said on Monday that it has started research and development work in order to act as soon as possible. Several initial steps in the development of a new vaccine overlap with the research to assess whether a vaccine is needed. Both BioNTech and Moderna started this procedure after the news about the new strain was reported last Thursday.

The United States will continue to release 50 million barrels of strategic oil reserves as planned, although the new coronavirus variant is triggering a sharp drop in crude oil prices. "We did not reconsider," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a press conference on Monday. As part of an unprecedented concerted action by the world's major oil-consuming countries to curb high oil prices, the Biden administration announced the release of strategic oil reserves last week. The White House’s comments come as OPEC and its allies plan to hold a meeting to discuss their own response to the Omicron mutant strain.

German prices rose more than expected in November, making it more difficult for the European Central Bank to convince consumers that the current price surge will soon ease. Germany's EU reconciled CPI in November rose 6% year-on-year. The non-reconciled index rose by 5.2% year-on-year, the highest level since 1992. German government bonds expanded their decline slightly after the data was released, and the 10-year yield rose by 4 basis points to -0.30%.

A senior European diplomat said that the negotiations on resuming the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement had a positive start on Monday, and Iran has shown its willingness to seriously participate in negotiations in the coming weeks to seek consensus. If the Vienna talks are successful, the economic sanctions imposed on Iran may be lifted, and it will have a major impact on the oil market and the security of the Middle East. But this prospect is still far from being realized, and US officials are increasingly pessimistic about reaching an agreement with Iran's elected hardliner government this year.

Risk Warning: The above content is for reference only, and does not represent JRFX’s position. JRFX does not assume any form of loss caused by any trading carried out in accordance with this article. Please consult your financial planner for your investment portfolios and manage your own risk.

JRFX is an online CFD broker providing more than 50 products for Forex, metals and commodities. Open a trading account within a minute. Deposit 100USD and download our MT4 trading platform now!