Asian shares vault to record high as US stimulus seen within reach
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2022
SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
Asian shares vault to record high as US stimulus seen within reach

Global Economy

Reuters
04 December, 2020, 03:40 pm
Last modified: 04 December, 2020, 03:48 pm

Related News

  • Asian stocks wobble as growth doubts loom
  • Asia markets gain despite global growth worries
  • Stocks, commodities pare losses but growth worries cloud outlook
  • Asian stocks hit 2-year low on rate hike worries
  • Asian shares firm as Fed tempers aggressive rate hike bets

Asian shares vault to record high as US stimulus seen within reach

European stocks are seen mixed. Euro zone stock futures traded 0.14% lower while Britain’s FTSE futures were up 0.49%

Reuters
04 December, 2020, 03:40 pm
Last modified: 04 December, 2020, 03:48 pm
The gains in Asia followed a late dip on Wall Street on Thursday Photo: Reuters
The gains in Asia followed a late dip on Wall Street on Thursday Photo: Reuters

Asian shares scaled a record high on Friday on growing prospects of a large US economic stimulus package, while hopes that coronavirus vaccine rollouts will boost the global economy underpinned investor sentiment.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.78%, surpassing its November 25 peak, led by gains in the tech sector, while Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.22% on profit-taking.

European stocks are seen mixed. Euro zone stock futures traded 0.14% lower while Britain's FTSE futures were up 0.49%.

In New York, the S&P 500 erased earlier gains after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer had slashed the target for the rollout of its Covid-19 vaccine due to supply chain obstacles.

Yet, the damage did not last long, with S&P500 futures gaining 0.23% in early Friday trade.

A bipartisan, $908 billion coronavirus aid plan gained momentum in the US Congress on Thursday as conservative lawmakers expressed their support.

"A deal before the year-end looked almost impossible a while back but now a package of around $1 trillion seems within reach," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

On top of fiscal support, investors expect the US Federal Reserve to tweak guidance on its asset purchase scheme later this month while the European Central Bank looks certain to increase its bond buying next week.

Progress in developing Covid-19 vaccines also led investors to bet a recovery in corporate earnings will accelerate next year, overriding concerns about the current dire conditions of the pandemic.

"Stock markets are behaving as if the world has already overcome the disease. In reality it will take time before vaccines will reach every corner of the world and infections start to decline," said Mitsubishi UFJ's Fujito.

"Given the rapid pace of gains in stock prices over the past month, there will be some profit-taking. Nevertheless, I don't think the market is peaking just yet."

The United States topped 14 million known Covid-19 infections with over 100,000 patients hospitalized for the first time. California imposed stay-at-home orders to take effect when intensive care units approach capacity in the coming days.

"Investors now see the light at the end of the tunnel," said Sean Taylor, chief investment officer for the Asia Pacific at Deutsche Bank's asset management arm DWS in Hong Kong. "Our preferred area for 2021 is equities."

The upbeat mood saw the US dollar lose ground to other major currencies as well as riskier, less liquid ones.

The euro rose to $1.2142, its highest levels since April 2018 while the yen stood at 103.95 per dollar, holding on to its 0.5% gains made the previous day.

The British pound changed hands at $1.3442 , having hit a three-month high on Thursday with traders clinging to hopes of a trade deal between the European Union and Britain.

As talks continued to secure a Brexit deal, an EU official said an agreement was closer than ever but a UK government source warned chances for a breakthrough were receding.

The MSCI's emerging market currency index stood at 2 1/2-year high, having gained more than 10% from its March trough.

In commodities, oil prices got an additional lift after OPEC and Russia agreed to slightly ease their deep oil output cuts from January by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) even as they failed to find a compromise on a broader and longer term policy.

The increase means the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia, a group known as OPEC+, would move to cutting production by 7.2 million bpd, or 7% of global demand from January, compared with current cuts of 7.7 million bpd.

Brent crude rose to as high as $49.92 per barrel, its highest price since early March and last stood at $49.67, up 2%.

World+Biz

Asian shares / US Stimulus

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • PID photo
    PM asks for region-based appropriate development planning
  • Photo: Collected
    BSEC seeks explanation from Shakib Al Hasan on gold venture 
  • Court sends Haji Salim to jail rejecting bail plea
    Court sends Haji Salim to jail rejecting bail plea

MOST VIEWED

  • U.S. President Biden speaks to reporters while departing at Des Moines International Airport in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., April 12, 2022. REUTERS/Al Drago
    Biden to launch economic plan for Indo-Pacific region
  • South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong stand next to US President Joe Biden during a visit to a semiconductor factory at the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, May 20, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
    First stop Samsung: Biden touts South Korean role in securing global supply chains
  • FILE PHOTO: A shop sign of Hyundai is seen outside a car showroom in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Britain, May 31, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Boyers/File Photo/REUTERS
    Hyundai Motor Group to invest more than $10 billion in US up to 2025
  • An employee checks freshly roasted coffee beans during cooling down in a tumbler at H. Schwarzenbach coffee roastery in Zurich, Switzerland December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
    Coffee demand up but not yet percolating at pre-pandemic levels
  • HSBC CEO Noel Quinn attends the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 3, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
    HSBC banker's remarks on climate risk inconsistent with strategy, CEO says
  • A man wears a protective mask as he walks on Wall Street during the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, New York, U.S., March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files
    Wall Street ends mixed after punishing week

Related News

  • Asian stocks wobble as growth doubts loom
  • Asia markets gain despite global growth worries
  • Stocks, commodities pare losses but growth worries cloud outlook
  • Asian stocks hit 2-year low on rate hike worries
  • Asian shares firm as Fed tempers aggressive rate hike bets

Features

Other platform giants are dabbling with ways to copy TikTok. Photo: Bloomberg

Why everybody wants to be like TikTok

2h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How the ban on porn sites spawned a local cybersex industry

5h | Panorama
3 best affordable sunscreens for all

3 best affordable sunscreens for all

5h | Mode
Warah uses three types of khadi material: a sheer and light one, a medium count and a thicker one.

Warah: Embroidered with culture and womanhood

8h | Mode

More Videos from TBS

CV or Resume: Which one to create for job application

CV or Resume: Which one to create for job application

7h | Videos
Wheat prices double in India

Wheat prices double in India

21h | Videos
Is Washington-Moscow agreement possible?

Is Washington-Moscow agreement possible?

21h | Videos
Pigeon exhibition for the first time in Gazipur

Pigeon exhibition for the first time in Gazipur

1d | Videos

Most Read

1
Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
Bangladesh

Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge

2
A packet of US five-dollar bills is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Banking

Dollar hits Tk100 mark in open market

3
The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter
Industry

The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter

4
PK Halder: How a scamster rose from humble beginnings to a Tk11,000cr empire
Crime

PK Halder: How a scamster rose from humble beginnings to a Tk11,000cr empire

5
BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies
Stocks

BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies

6
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Habitat

The United House: Living and working inside nature

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab