Australian shares are likely to fall in morning trade, following a mixed performance across global markets as investors digested a fresh update on Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.
The Australian dollar was buying 71.8 US cents, after a 0.8 per cent gain overnight.
Global markets swung wildly last week as investors fretted that the spread of the new variant could force countries to lay down new restrictions, up-ending a global recovery at a time when central banks around the world are contemplating a move to pre-pandemic monetary policy environment.Pfizer and BioNTech said their three-shot COVID vaccine was able to neutralise the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test and they could deliver an upgraded vaccine in March 2022 if needed.
"We've had a really strong start to the week. So there is sort of a pause in that rally," said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index. Even as the vaccine update helped calm nerves earlier in the session, there is still very little known about the new variant of the coronavirus.
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