Asian markets rise as Covid fears ease

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HONG KONG (AFP): Asian markets rose Thursday (Dec 23) following Wall Street's lead as concerns over inflation and Covid eased with US data showing optimism about the economy despite the spread of the Omicron variant.

The upbeat pre-holiday mood was helped by two preliminary studies from Britain indicating Omicron infections were less likely to result in hospitalisation compared with the Delta variant, confirming a trend first identified in South Africa.