As China records its first case of the omicron Covid variant, Beijing comes under pressure to reconsider its zero-tolerance approach to covid transmission. Tech and travel stocks lead the losses on Wall Street while omicron unnerves investors in Asian equities. The UK health secretary, Sajid Javid says the omicron variant could account for 44% of cases in London and is expected to be the dominant strain later today. Meanwhile, The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee is expected to accelerate its bond purchasing programme today which could mean an earlier hike in interest rates in the U.S.  

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