European equity markets are expected to decline, worried about the economic repercussions of Omicron. The Eurostoxx 50 opens at 4,179.15 points (+2.86%), the CAC 40 at 6,881.87 points (+2.39%), the DAX 40 at 15,472.67 points (+2.47%) ), the FTSE 100 at 7,168.68 points (+1.55%), the SMI at 12,266.46 points (+0.88%), the AEX at 790.70 points (+1.71%), the BEL 20 at 4,154.97 points (+1.01%), IBEX 35 at 8,452.60 points (+1.78%), DJIA at 34,022.04 points (-1.34%), Nasdaq at 15,254.05 points (-1.83%), the S&P 500 at 4,513.04 points (-1.18%) and the Nikkei 225 at 27,753.37 points (-0.65%).

Regarding exchange rates, the change from the close in New York indicates that EUR/USD at 1.1318 (-0.03%), EUR/JPY at 127.98 (+0.24 %) and USD/JPY at 113.09 (+0.27%).

Investors will follow Thursday the regular auction of Treasury Bonds (OAT), which will be one of the last of the year 2021. Agence France Trésor intends to issue on this occasion between 3 billion and 4 billion euros OAT maturing in 2030, 2041 and 2045. On the corporate side, Safran and Wendel organize investor days. The main European equity indices are expected to open lower on Thursday, as volatility sets in in markets concerned about the global economic outlook since the discovery of the new Omicron variant of the virus responsible for Covid-19. At 7:40 a.m., the CAC 40 futures contract lost 77 points, or 1.1%, according to data from broker IG Markets. The DAX 40 contract was down 147 points, or 1%, and the FTSE 100 contract was down 65 points, or 0.9%. Wall Street ended sharply lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Index (DJIA) lost 1.3% to 34,022 points, and the broader S&P 500 index lost 1.2% to 4,513.01 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.8%. Asian stock markets are moving in scattered order on Thursday. The Nikkei index lost 0.7% in Tokyo, while the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's Hang Seng gained 0.1% at the end of the session. The Shanghai Composite index yielded 0.04%.

The yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond fell to its lowest level in almost 11 months on Wednesday, while the rest of the curve presented a mixed picture after the confirmation of a first case of the Omicron variant in the States. -United. The yield on the 30-year bond fell to 1.745%, against 1.796% on Tuesday evening. This is its lowest level since January 5. Thursday at 7 a.m., it recovered to 1.773%. At the same time, the yield on the ten-year Treasury bill, the market's benchmark, fell to 1.408% on Wednesday evening, from 1.450% the day before. Thursday morning, it rose to 1.434%.

The euro changed little Thursday morning against the dollar. The Dutch bank is maintaining its medium-term objective of a euro at 1.12 dollars for the moment, underlines the strategist, who nevertheless estimates that the probability that the euro will fall towards 1.10 dollars in the course of the next year increased.

Oil contracts are progressing Thursday morning, while operators await the meeting of OPEC+, a group that includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia. At the end of this meeting, the producing countries will decide whether or not to suspend the increases in production already planned. Currently, OPEC+ plans to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in January. At 7:30 a.m., the February contract for Brent North Sea oil was selling for 94 cents, or 1.4%, at $69.81 a barrel. The Nymex-listed light sweet crude (WTI) January contract was up 82 cents, or 1.3%, at $66.39 a barrel.