While developments around the Omicron variant continue to be the main driver in this week’s market sentiment, here’s what you need to know this week.

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1.  Evergrande faces payment deadline

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After China Evergrande Group said that there was no guarantee that it would have enough funds to meet debt repayments, shares of the firm tumbled 12% to an 11-year low.

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The shares fell as a 30-day grace period on the coupon payment of $82.5 million due on Monday, 6 December, came to an end.

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The company plans “to actively engage” on a restructuring plan with offshore creditors, it said.

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2.  Volatility set to continue

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Disruptions in stocks sold off last week look set to continue as investors dump shares of growth and technology companies in favor of value stocks.  

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The shares dump follows the hit by the double-whammy of uncertainty over the Omicron variant and the prospect of faster tapering by the Fed.

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Value stocks, including companies like banks and energy firms, rallied earlier in the year as the U.S. economy reopened but faltered later as investors rotated back to tech shares.

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3.  Crypto selloff

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Bitcoin fell as much as 20% on Saturday in the wake of a volatile week on equities markets, while Ethereum dropped more than 10% before pulling back.  

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The crypto market faced a broad-based selloff in digital currencies amid concerns over a regulatory crackdown.

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Major cryptocurrency firms, including Bitcoin, are expected to testify before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday amid calls for regulations.

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4.  Musk sells more Tesla shares

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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO, Elon Musk has sold another 934,091 shares worth nearly $1,01 billion, in order to fulfill his tax obligations and also exercised options to purchase 2.1 million shares of the automaker at $6.24.

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Musk has sold 10.1 million shares for $10.9 billion and exercised options to buy 10.7 million shares since early November.

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Tesla stocks closed 6.42% lower at $1,014.97 a share on Friday while still up 39% year-to-date.

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5.  Fiserv, stock of the week

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Fiserv’s (FISV:NASDAQ) shares rose 2.6% last week, while the outperformance could potentially continue into the 2022 calendar year.

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The company, which provides a wide range of payment services to the financial industry, earned $1.47 a share in the third quarter as revenue grew 10% from a year ago to $4.16 billion.

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Over the past year, a good number of insiders have significantly increased their holdings in Fiserv. The data is encouraging because it indicates that insiders are more optimistic about their prospects.

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