• European stocks fall sharply on Monday with Stoxx 600 shedding over 2% in early deals led by a rout for travel stocks.

• Global stocks continue to struggle going into the year-end amid Omicron concerns.

• Key earnings this week include Nike Inc. and Micron

• Gold above $1,800 per ounce as oil slides to 68.64 per barrel amid demand concerns

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The year-end rally in stocks could still happen as the market moves into the holiday season proper, despite the immediate outlook being clouded by concerns over the Omicron variant. Here's how today's market update.

European stocks plunge

European stocks have opened sharply lower on Monday, with losses across the market heightened by major dips for travel stocks.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 is down 2.04% in the early morning session, while across the bourses, Germany’s DAX is sinking at 2.5% and France’s CAC is down 2.4%.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 has dipped 1.9% in early trades even as Covid cases rise to dent the positivity seen last week after the Bank of England hiked interest rates.

US markets to open lower

US Stocks closed lower on Friday and futures saw a red weekend, with losses for the major indexes suggesting investor sentiment remains weak after the Fed’s hawkish move last week. Also causing a lot of jitters is the Omicron variant, with disruptions to travel during the holiday season amid potential lockdowns in Europe a key concern.

As such, US stocks are set to open lower with the Dow Jones (DIA) futures down 0.07% while the S&P 500 (SPY) futures has slid 1.24% and Nasdaq (QQQ) futures are selling off at -1.22%. Last week, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.7%, the S$P 500 slipped 1.9% and the Nasdaq Composite lost about 3%.

In Asia, Chinese blue chips fell 2.01%, while Japan's Nikkei dropped 2.13% and South Korea’s Kospi stocks declined 1.81%.

Major stocks update

The recent sell-off has left several top stocks deep in red, with the outlook likely to remain negative as Omicron continues to drive sentiment.

Apple (AAPL) fell 4.6% last week, failing to hold above the $3 trillion market cap level amid news over demand for the iPhone. Microsoft (MSFT) sank 5.5%, to close below its 50-day moving average and paint a possible further decline this week.

Alphabet (GOOG) also posted weekly losses, with the stock trimming 4.2% and similarly dipping below its 50-DMA. Tesla (TSLA) nosedived a crazy 8.3% over the week. All these stocks are lower on the 24-hour log.

Key earnings: Nike, Micron

Key earnings this Monday are expected from sportswear giant Nike (NKE) and Micron Technology (MU). Both companies’ reports are likely to prove critical to the outlook of others within the fashion and retail and chip industry respectively. Nike’s guidance could also be indicative of perspectives within the supply chain industry.

NKE closed 0.84% lower on Friday at $161.36 but has slightly gained in after hours trading to add 0.32%. Meanwhile, MU was 0.37% up at the last close, with after-hours trading pushing it 0.96%.

Elsewhere in the market

Yields

The 10-year Treasury has declined to 1.38%, continuing the rot that has seen it sink further from year-to-date highs around 1.78% and the critical 2% level (SPTL).

Currencies

In currencies, the euro (FXE) and the Japanese yen (FXY) are up 0.26% against the US dollar. Sterling (FXB) is down 0.37% to $1.319. The dollar index is down 0.02% to 96.55, with struggles for the greenback coming after a firm outing on Friday that included an 0.7% flip to 96.67.

Commodities

Gold (GLD) is around $1,802 per ounce after last week’s upside saw it break a 5-week losing streak, while oil is down over 5% to 68.64 per barrel as markets reacts to possible dip in demand and supply disruptions (BNO).