Flight cancellations marred Christmas weekend for many travelers, as Covid-19 left carriers short-staffed to operate busy schedules over the holiday. In the U.S., canceled flights mounted through the weekend and involved many airlines. The disruptions came suddenly as a ramp-up in employee absences caught carriers off guard. The industry for months had been adjusting to labor shortages amid high customer demand, and because of measures such as incentive pay and scaled-back schedules had gotten through Thanksgiving largely without problems. Delta Air Lines Inc., which pointed to the new variant as well as winter weather as problematic, said midday that it had canceled about 161 of the 4,155 flights it had planned to operate Sunday, with around 40 more cancellations forecast for the day, a smaller number than it had initially expected to scrap. Delta canceled 375 flights on Christmas Day and more than 200 on Christmas Eve, the airline said. JetBlue Airways Corp. on Sunday canceled 110 flights, 10% of its operation, according to FlightAware. United, which had avoided staffing problems for most of the year, had planned its largest schedule this month since the start of the pandemic, adding flights to capture additional holiday demand. The variant began affecting its operation just before Christmas, and it canceled nearly 100 flights Sunday because of staffing concerns, a spokeswoman said. It said that roughly 25% of United customers have been able to rebook to arrive earlier than their original plan.

Like most stock exchanges in Europe, there was no trading in Switzerland on Friday because of Christmas Eve. On Thursday, the SMI gained 0.6 percent to 12,785 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 17 price gainers and three losers. 22.96 (previously: 21.11) million shares were traded. Holcim was one of the SMI leaders with a gain of 1.9 percent. The building materials group is acquiring Malarkey Roofing Products, which it says is a key player in the US residential roofing market with projected net sales of $600 million for 2022 and EBITDA of $120 million. Holcim plans to finance the $1.35 billion transaction entirely by cash. Banking stocks did well. Credit Suisse rose 1.8 percent, UBS 1.6 percent. Insurance stocks also advanced. Swiss Re improved by 1.4 percent, Zurich Insurance by 1.1 percent. Novartis shares (+0.8 percent) benefited from product approvals in the United States. According to the pharmaceutical group, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the cholesterol-lowering drug Leqvio. In addition, the use of the arthritis drug Cosentyx was approved for the treatment of children. Meanwhile, the shares of its competitor Roche fell by 0.5 percent. The SMI was also held back by heavyweight Nestle.

European stock markets closed slightly lower on Friday, after a slow session due to the absence of many traders and the closure of several stock exchanges on Christmas Eve. The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.1% to 482.6 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 and the SBF 120 gave up 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, while the FTSE 100 in London fell by 0.02%. The London Stock Exchange closed midday, and will remain shut until Wednesday. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange remained closed. The December 24 session was penalized this year by the closure of the American markets on Friday. Icade Santé, a subsidiary of Icade (+0.3%), acquired a portfolio of four private hospitals in Portugal for 213 million euros including transfer taxes. EssilorLuxottica (-0.7%) and GrandVision announced on Thursday evening the sale of nearly 180 stores to comply with commitments made to the European Commission to complete their merger. The two groups have reached an agreement with Optic Retail International Group, an entity of MPG Austria, providing for the sale of 142 EyeWish stores in the Netherlands and 35 GrandOptical stores in Belgium. Valneva (-0.6%) is in advanced discussions with Scotland's economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, regarding a grant to continue work on its Livingston plant. Valneva had suspended plans to expand its Scottish site following the UK government's cancellation in September of a supply agreement for the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the group. On Thursday, the DAX 40 gained 1% in Frankfurt. During an interview with the German newspaper WirtschaftsWoche, Nikolai Setzer, CEO of the automotive supplier Continental (+2.5% in Frankfurt), said he expected a good fourth quarter. Lufthansa (+1%) will cancel 33,000 flights this winter, or 10% of its initial planned offering, due to the spread of the Omicron variant and travel restrictions, CEO Carsten Spohr announced in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

U.S. stock indexes closed higher on Thursday in the holiday-shortened trading week, with the S&P 500 notching a new high, as investors digested economic data and developments related to the Omicron variant’s spread. The S&P 500 was up 0.6%, or 29.23 points, at 4725.79, its 68th record close in 2021. Thursday’s rise, its third consecutive daily increase, followed a Wednesday session during which strong economic data helped ease investors’ concerns about the risks posed by Covid-19 and inflation. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite rose 0.85%, or 131.48 points, to 15653.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.55%, or 196.67 points, to 35950.56. Fresh data from the Commerce Department showed that U.S. consumer-spending growth cooled last month. The U.S. personal-consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy, a gauge of inflation, rose 4.7% in November from a year earlier. First-time applications for unemployment benefits, a proxy for layoffs, held steady at 205,000 in the week ended Dec. 18, unchanged from one week earlier. U.S. regulators cleared use of a Covid-19 pill from Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, the latest easy-to-use therapy that infected people can take to keep out of the hospital. Merck shares fell 0.6%. Novavax said its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated “strong immune responses” against Omicron and other variants. Its shares closed down 3.3%. Thursday’s gains in travel and hospitality stocks may reflect investors’ optimism for the containment of the pandemic. Shares of hotel chain Marriott International gained 1.6% and United Airlines Holdings rose 0.7%. U.S. markets were closed on Friday, reopening on Monday.

In Asia, major indexes closed with losses. The Hong Kong stock market remains closed due to public holidays. In China, the Shanghai Composite extends its losses to 1.0 percent. In South Korea (-0.3%) the Kospi drops 0.3%. In Japan (-0.3%), the Nikkei-225 declines by 0.3%. The airline sector suffers from the global flight cancellations in the wake of Corona measures. After weak business figures, the papers of the furniture supplier Nitori Holdings plunge by 8.8 percent.

U.S. Treasury yields edged up Thursday, following the 10-year Treasury’s biggest yield drop in almost a week during the prior session, as a gauge of U.S. inflation jumped in November and weekly jobless benefit claims came in unchanged at 205,000. The bond market will close an hour earlier Thursday and remain closed on Friday in observance of the Christmas holiday. The 10-year U.K. gilt yield traded at 0.918% on Friday, according to Tradeweb.

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