Asia lags as U.S., Euro stock futures rally By Reuters

By Wayne Cole

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Asian share markets lagged a bounce in U.S. and European futures on Monday, while bonds surrendered some of their recent gains and oil rallied as Saudi Arabia lifted its crude prices.

November’s mixed U.S. jobs report did little to shake market expectations of a more aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve, leaving a week to wait for a consumer price report that could make the case for an early tapering.

Omicron remained a concern as the variant spread to about one-third of U.S. states, though there were reports from South Africa that cases there only had mild symptoms.

Early trade was cautious as MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched down 0.4%.

eased 0.6%, even as…