Asian investors push most markets higher

HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly enjoyed gains on Wednesday following the previous day’s advances, with vaccine and economic recovery optimism helping investors look past a frightening surge in virus cases around the world.

As a rollercoaster year draws to a close, two major weights on sentiment - US stimulus and the Brexit trade deal - have been navigated reasonably positively, leaving traders a little more upbeat about the next few months.

With central banks unlikely to step back anytime soon from their vast monetary easing programmes, and vaccines allowing life to get back to some semblance of normality, analysts are hopeful that equities have a long way to go higher.

“This is an economy that is recovering, the policy is going to be accommodative for years to come, it suggests a good backdrop for risk assets — it doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be some challenges as we progress over the next couple of years,” Brian Levitt, a strategist at Invesco, told Bloomberg TV.

“The reality is the markets are going to be focused on a recovery.”

Wall Street’s three main indexes dipped from Monday’s records on disappointment that Republicans had blocked a move to ramp up stimulus cash handouts, though there is a feeling US lawmakers will eventually push ahead with more support measures as Joe Biden takes over at the White House.

Hong Kong led gains in Asia, rallying 1.5 per cent, while Seoul jumped 1.9 per cent and Shanghai and Taipei also put on more than one per cent each. There were also advances in Singapore but Tokyo eased after piling on more than two per cent on Tuesday, while Wellington, Bangkok and Jakarta were also in the red. — AFP