In Asia, investors keep an eye on developments regarding the Omicron variant. Indices predominantly in limited gain.

Stocks in the Asia Pacific region were mostly buy-heavy in Thursday’s trading.

In mainland China, Shenzhen and Shanghai indices increased slightly.

In Japan, the Nikkei fell, while the Topix index was flat. South Korea’s Kospi index was positive, close to horizontal.

The Australian Stock Exchange also fell slightly.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that he was very concerned about the “tsunami” effect of the Omicron variant. Ghebreyesus urged that this variant not be taken lightly. Hebreyesus noted that 1.8 million deaths were reported in 2020 and approximately 3.5 million deaths in 2021 due to Covid-19, “We know that the real numbers are much higher.” he added.