sydney dec 6 reuters  asian share markets got off to a cautious start on monday as omicron emerged in more countries and investors faced a weeklong wait for key us inflation figures that could settle the course of interest rates a mixed us jobs report did little to shake market expectations of a more aggressive tightening by the federal reserve and the consumer price report due on friday was likely to make the case for an early tapering omicron remained a concern as the variant spread to about onethird of us states though there were reports from south africa that cases there had mild symptoms  read more early trade was sluggish as mscis broadest index of asiapacific shares outside japan miapj0000pus inched down 02 japans nikkei n225 eased 07 even as the government considered raising its economic growth forecast to account for a record 490 billion stimulus package read more wall street was looking to rally after fridays late slide with sp 500 futures adding 04 and nasdaq futures 01 while headline us payrolls had underwhelmed in november the survey of households was far stronger with a 11 million jump in jobs taking unemployment down to 42 we think the fed will view the economy as much closer to full employment than previously thought said barclays economist michael gapen hence we expect an accelerated taper at the december meeting followed by the first rate hike in march we continue to expect three 25 basis point hikes in 2022 the futures market is almost fully priced for a hike to 025 by may and 05 by november the hawkish outlook is one reason bofa chief investment strategist michael hartnett is bearish on equities for 2022 expecting a rates shock and a tightening of financial conditions he favours real assets real estate commodities volatility cash and emerging markets while bonds credit and equities could struggle for now shortterm treasury yields are being pushed higher but the longerend has rallied as investors wager an earlier start to hikes will mean slower economic growth and inflation over time and a lower peak for the funds rate tenyear us yields dived almost 13 basis points last week and were last at 138 shrinking the spread over twoyears to the smallest this year us the rise in shortterm rates has helped underpin the us dollar particularly against growthleveraged currencies which are seen as vulnerable to the spread of the omicron variant the us dollar hit 13month peaks on the australian and new zealand dollars but its index was relatively steady on the majors at 96214  the euro was holding at 11303 and above its recent trough at 11184 while the dollar lost ground on the safe haven yen to 11294  bitcoin shed a fifth of its value on saturday as a profittaking and macroeconomic concerns triggered nearly a billion dollars worth of selling across cryptocurrencies read more bitcoin last at 49436 having been as low as 41967 over the weekend in commodities gold found some support from the decline in longerterm bond yields but has been trading sideways for several months in a 17201870 range early monday it was steady at 1783 an ounce  oil prices have been far more volatile as supply constraints war with worries about demand as omicron spreads lately prices have come off the boil with brent and us crude falling for six straight weeks on monday the market was attempting a bounce with brent rising 129 to 7117 a barrel while us crude added 130 to 6756 per barrel