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Omicron Can Boost Equities If Symptoms Are Mild, Ackman Says

Pershing Square Capital Management founder Bill Ackman says that it will be bullish for equity markets if symptoms caused by the omicron coronavirus variant turn out to be mild to moderate, even if it’s more transmissible.
Bloomberg
By Bloomberg
29 Nov
Pershing Square Capital Management LP Chief Executive Officer Bill Ackman InterviewBill Ackman, chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, U.S., on Wednesday, 1 November 2017.

“If this turns out to be true, this is bullish not bearish for markets,” he tweeted, specifying he meant bullish for equity markets and bearish for bonds.

Bill Ackman

@BillAckman

A thought. While it is too early to have definitive data, early reported data suggest that the Omicron virus causes ‘mild to moderate’ symptoms (less severity) and is more transmissible. If this turns out to be true, this is bullish not bearish for markets.

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View original tweet.

The World Health Organization has labeled omicron a Variant of Concern, but authorities in South Africa, where it was first identified, have said most of the cases were mild to moderate so far.

WHO Urges Caution as South Africa Calls Omicron ‘Mild’ (2)

Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association and first doctor to alert authorities about the variant, told the Telegraph that symptoms associated with the omicron at this point are “different and so mild” compared to those she had treated before.

U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday in Asia as traders assessed the impact omicron would have on the global economic reopening given reports of the mild symptoms.

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