New Covid strain spooks market

Travel shock: People leaving a hotel at the Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong. It confirms two cases of the new strain in travellers arriving in the city. — AFP

NEW YORK: Investors dumped risk assets and flocked to havens yesterday as a new variant of the coronavirus made its presence known in global markets.

Fears the variant first discovered in South Africa may spread internationally – thwarting the global economic recovery – pushed global bonds and the yen higher while the rand fell to its lowest in a year.