US stock markets traded higher on Thursday, rebounding from Wednesday's losses and led by gains in Boeing and travel stocks. China's aviation authority issued an "airworthiness directive" that provides instructions to airline operators as to what changes are required from the 737 MAX before it can fly again, clearing the path for a return to service of the troubled aircraft. In other corporate news, shares of Apple and its suppliers slumped after Bloomberg reported about slowing demand for Apple's iPhone 13. Elsewhere, concerns over the new Omicron coronavirus variant continued to weigh on sentiment, as well as prospects of early tapering by the US Federal Reserve after Chairman Jerome Powell said that he expects policymakers to discuss the possibility of a faster taper schedule at the December meeting, while indicating he no longer considered inflation as "transitory".

WTI crude futures tumbled as much as 4% to below $63 per barrel on Thursday, the lowest since August 20th after OPEC+ agreed to go ahead with the planned January output rise. OPEC+ has been releasing 400,000 barrels per day of oil per month winding down its record cuts from last year. The spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant added to concerns over lower demand and crude surplus early next year after major oil-consuming nations pledged to release the emergency reserves. Meanwhile, US deputy energy secretary David Turk said President Biden’s administration could adjust the timing of its planned release of strategic crude oil stockpiles if global energy prices drop substantially. Elsewhere, official data showed US crude stocks fell less than expected last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose more than expected on weakening demand.

Job cuts announced by US-based companies fell 34.8 percent from a month earlier and 77 percent from a year earlier to 14,875 in November 2021, the lowest monthly total since May 1993, as companies try to keep workers amid tight labor market. Companies in the technology sector announced the most job cuts (1,980), followed by the services sector (1,835), the health care/products sector (1,817), and the real estate sector (1,677). So far this year, employers have announced plans to cut 302,918 jobs from their payrolls, down 86% from the 2,227,725 jobs eliminated through the same period last year. It is the lowest January-November total on record.

European stock markets slipped on Thursday and erased Wednesday’s gains, with tech stocks leading losses, while ongoing concerns about the new omicron coronavirus variant also dented sentiment ahead of labor market data from the Eurozone. Technology shares took a downturn following news that Apple told its suppliers that some orders may not materialize because demand for the iPhone 13 has slowed. Meanwhile, French luxury group Hermes International is set to list Europe's main stock indexes, the Euro Stoxx 50, to replace Universal Music Group on December 20th. On the pandemic front, the WHO said on Wednesday it was too early to determine whether the rise in hospitalizations in South Africa was linked to the omicron variant, as reports from multiple countries showed that people infected with the new strain were developing mild symptoms.

Brazil’s gross domestic product shrank 0.1% on quarter in the three months to September 2021, following an upwardly revised 0.4% contraction in the previous period, compared to market expectations of no growth and officially entering a recession. The agricultural sector slumped 8% amid an unusual drought that disrupted grain production and coffee crops, and as the soybean harvest season ended. Meanwhile, industry showed no growth, as expansion in construction (3.9%) was offset by declines in utilities (-1.1%); manufacturing (-1%) and mining (-0.4%). At the same time, services grew 1.1%. On the expenditure side, fixed investment shrank 0.1% and net external demand contributed negatively, as exports and imports fell 9.8% and 8.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, household consumption rose 0.9% and government spending grew 0.8%. On a yearly basis, the economy grew by 4%, after a record 12.3% expansion in the previous period and slightly below market expectations of a 4.2% rise.

Producer prices in the Euro Area jumped 5.4 percent from a month earlier in October 2021, the most since at least January 1995 and well above market expectations of a 3.5 percent rise, amid soaring energy prices, supply bottlenecks, and base effects. The reading, coupled with a stubbornly high consumer price inflation, should add to concerns over the impact of rising prices on the bloc's recovery and could increase pressure on the ECB to adjust its long-standing claim that high inflation is transitory. Main upward pressure came from: energy (16.8 percent vs 7.8 percent in September); intermediate goods (1.4 percent vs 0.9 percent); and non-durable consumer goods (0.5 percent vs 0.3 percent). On a yearly basis, producer prices jumped 21.9 percent in October, the most on record.