Equities rose Thursday following a record lead from Wall Street, with investors cheered by hopes for a vaccine, more positive economic data, and further lockdown easing in Europe.
The developments helped offset a worrying spike in infections in the United States, which has led to the reimposition of containment measures that could slow recovery in the world’s top economy, and warnings of worse to come.
Hong Kong led the gains on reopening after a one-day break, despite concerns about a new security law imposed on the city by China that observers said was more draconian than feared and could impact its future as an attractive business hub.
And while there are worries about the issue causing further friction between Beijing and the West, markets remain positive for now.
The Hang Seng Index rose more than two percent, while Shanghai ended up 2.1 percent.
Sydney, Mumbai, Seoul, Wellington, and Bangkok were all up more than one percent, while Manila also chalked up more than two percent gains.
Taipei, Singapore, and Jakarta were all in positive territory.
Tokyo ended up 0.1 percent with signs of a flare-up in new cases in the Japanese capital weighing on sentiment.
London and Paris opened 0.7 percent higher, while Frankfurt piled on one percent.
The gains came after another all-time high for the tech-heavy Nasdaq on Wall Street, with investors now awaiting the release of key US June jobs data later in the day for a better grip on the economy following May’s surprise jump in employment.
There was some cheer as figures from payroll services firm ADP showed a 2.37 million increase in private jobs — slightly below forecasts — though it added that 3.06 million posts were created in May, a revision from its initial report of 2.76 million lost.
Adding to signs that the worst of the economic hit may have passed, US factory activity began growing again, while the rise in German retail sales was four times more than expected in May.
Meanwhile, hopes for a vaccine were given a boost after Germany’s BioNTech and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reported positive preliminary results from a joint project, which showed positive antibody responses.
Europe continued with its lockdown easing, with the EU reopening its borders to visitors from 15 countries, while Spain and Portugal held a ceremony to free up their land border.
And the Netherlands confirmed the lifting of measures imposed on its brothels and red-light districts.
Europe opens, US closes
“It’s been a risk-positive start to the new quarter, starting as the old one went out, with more positive data surprises out of the US and encouraging news regarding potential coronavirus vaccine development,” said National Australia Bank’s Ray Attrill.
But he warned of a “need to be on guard for the recent stalling or even reversal of social distancing restrictions in many US states prompting setbacks in some of these readings in coming months.”
There are increasing worries over the second wave of infections elsewhere, led by the United States, which on Wednesday reported more than 50,000 new cases for the first time and several US states imposed 14-day quarantines on visitors ahead of the July 4 weekend celebrations.
California suspended indoor dining at restaurants in Los Angeles and several counties, while New York scrapped plans to allow restaurants to seat customers inside from next week.
Apple announced it would close another 30 US stores on Thursday, half of them in California.
And the World Health Organization warned that with more than 10 million known infections worldwide and more than 500,000 deaths, the pandemic is “not even close to being over”.
“There’s this inherent tension between the health of the economy and health of the population,” said David Lebovitz, a strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
“It’s going to be the way to think about what drives markets over the next couple of weeks or months.”
– Key figures around 0720 GMT –
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 2.2 percent at 24,955.55
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 22,145.96 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 2.1 percent at 3,090.57 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 6,201.10
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $40.06 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.6 percent at $42.30 per barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1272 from $1.1249 at 2100 GMT
Dollar/yen: UP at 107.51 yen from 107.43 yen
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2492 from $1.2468
Euro/pound: UP at 90.23 pence from 90.19 yen
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 25,734.97 (close)
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