European stocks traded higher on Wednesday, with a positive start to December. ‍Global stock markets have seen sharp losses as fears about the new coronavirus variant triggered a broad sell-off.

Just months after the Chinese ride-hailing group’s ill-fated initial public offering in New York, Didi Global (NYSE:DIDI) plans to delist its shares in the U.S. and move to a listing in Hong Kong instead.

On Monday, Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) announced that its chief executive officer, Mr. Dorsey, will be stepping down from his role with immediate effect.

NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) reported quarterly earnings of $1.28 per share on Tuesday and lifted its financial outlook for the full year 2022, driven by a “strong demand environment.”

According to a federal securities filing, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) chief executive Satya Nadella sold about half his stake in the company last week.

BP PLC (NYSE:BP) said it is planning a major green hydrogen project in the northeast of England, Teesside. ‍Industries in the Teesside region account for more than 5% of the UK’s industrial emissions and are also home to five of the country’s top 25 emitters.

COVID-19 is back on top of the agenda as investors fear that the new Omicron variant could stall the global economic recovery from the nearly two-year pandemic.‍Here are the top picks to watch in this week’s markets.

While numerous economic data points come rolling in, cyclical stocks are taking center stage in the stock markets.‍ As cyclical stocks generally flow with economic cycles and seeing that this is considered the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, investors will be watching it closely.

Sonos Inc., (NASDAQ:SONO) the home audio business which develops wireless multi-room systems, topped fourth-quarter fiscal 2021 earnings estimates on 17 November.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, oil prices, and Asian stocks suffered on Friday after a new Covid variant was detected in South Africa, raising investor concern.‍

Laptop-maker Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) announced record financial results for its fiscal 2022 third quarter, generating record revenue of $28.4 billion, up 21% compared with analysts’ average of $26.82 billion.

Well-known retailers Gap and Nordstrom both saw their quarterly results suffer and their share price hit by supply-chain disruptions even as consumers reenter their physical stores.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has finally shifted its priorities from passion projects to all-audience films that traditionally packed movie theatres.

While markets suddenly woke up to COVID-19 risks, European stocks were cautiously higher on Monday, shrugging off investor concerns.