Bloomberg Stock investors probably have more important things to worry about than the emergence of the new coronavirus strain, according to Morgan Stanley’s strategists. While “not that concerned about omicron as a major risk factor for equities,” the strategists led by Michael Wilson see headwinds building elsewhere, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the possible accelerated tapering of asset …

Bloomberg Oil rises after Saudi Arabia boosted the prices of its crude, signalling confidence in the demand outlook despite the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Futures in New York advanced 2.9% to trade near $68 a barrel. The kingdom increased its oil prices for customers in Asia and the US for January, just days after the Opec+ …

Bloomberg The Bank of England (BOE) is preparing to halt its almost 900 billion-pound ($1.2 trillion) quantitative easing program, leaving the future of what has become a controversial crisis-fighting tool shrouded in doubt. More than decade after buying the first government security as part of an initial 75-billion pound, three-month plan during the global financial crisis, the BOE will next …