Further easing of coronavirus lockdowns pushed global equities higher on Tuesday, with optimism stoked by the reopening of bars, cafes, pools and beaches outweighing China-US tensions that have hurt the dollar.
While countries including Brazil, Chile and Russia are enduring rising death tolls and infection rates from COVID-19, an increasing number of governments are seeing figures tail off.
“Once again, the markets embraced an optimistic outlook… setting aside fears over the long-term economic impact of the pandemic and the ever-growing tensions between the US and China to focus on another round of global easing measures,” said Connor Campbell, analyst at trading group Spreadex.
Adding to the broadly positive outlook was optimism about progress on a possible vaccine, which would allow the shattered global economy to start bouncing back.
But Chris Iggo at AXA Investment Managers warned, “That does not mean we should ignore the risk of second waves, prolonged weak growth and geopolitical issues.”
Wall Street, where the New York Stock Exchange trading floor reopened after two months of closure, finished higher, with the Dow gaining 2.2 percent to 24,995.11.
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“US stock markets are gearing up for a strong start to the week as further lockdown easing and some more promising vaccine news lifted sentiment after the bank holiday weekend,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA Europe.
Key European markets were all one percent or more higher at the closing bell, with London playing catch-up after a strong eurozone performance on Monday, though its gains were capped by a rising pound.
Earlier, Asian markets had closed higher, with Tokyo rising more than two percent, and Hong Kong up 1.9 percent as city leader Carrie Lam sought to reassure investors.
She said fears that Hong Kong’s business-friendly freedoms were at risk from a planned Chinese national security law were “totally groundless”.
But OANDA‘s Erlam warned that whatever good news may be looming on the COVID-19 front stood to be undermined by worsening relations between Washington and Beijing, which he said “will be a constant headwind for stock markets”.
US President Donald Trump warned that Hong Kong could lose its status as a global financial center if the proposed Chinese crackdown goes ahead.
Critics fear the law could be a death blow to the city’s treasured liberties, which are crucial to making it an international financial center on a par with New York and London.
Oil prices pushed on with their recovery, having suffered a spectacularly bad April when WTI crashed below zero.
The reopening of economies and a massive cut in output by some of the world’s top producers has helped the US benchmark WTI virtually double in value this month.
– Key figures at around 2040 GMT –
New York – Dow: UP 2.2 percent at 24,995.11 (close)
New York – S&P 500: UP 1.2 percent at 2,991.77 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.2 percent at 9,340.22 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 1.2 percent at 6,067.76 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 1.0 percent at 11,504.65 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.5 percent at 4,606.24 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.9 percent at 2,999.22 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.6 percent at 21,271.17 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 1.9 percent at 23,384.66 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 2,846.55 (close)
West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.3 percent at $34.35 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.8 percent at $36.17 per barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0984 from $1.0898 at 2100 GMT Friday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 107.54 yen from 107.71 yen
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2335 from $1.2191
Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.04 pence from 89.39 pence.
AFP
