Asia-Pacific Stock Exchanges(APX) largely traded in a positive zone Monday morning. The major stock indexes are rising amid growing hopes that a vaccine against coronavirus infection will soon be widely available. Recall that the world is currently preparing to release several drugs at once, which are developed by different companies. Investors bet on the vaccine jointly developed by two pharmaceutical companies - the American Pfizer and the German BioNTech. Last Friday, representatives of the developers submitted documents for a request for emergency use of the drug in the fight against the pandemic. However, all the formalities and confirmations may take at least a few weeks, so you should not expect the vaccine to appear on the markets very soon.
At the same time, another pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, is preparing to use its vaccine as a means of immunizing the population in early December this year. However, up to this point, all procedures for the approval of the authorities must be passed. The very fact that the drug is completely ready for use has an encouraging effect on investors.
Trading platforms in Japan remained closed due to the national holiday - Labor Thanksgiving Day.
China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.09%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index followed the positive trend with a modest growth of 0.13%. Thus, the Chinese indicator has confidently approached its maximum level over the past three months, while the Hong Kong indicator has approached an eight-month maximum.
Moreover, the Hong Kong index was able to win back the losses that happened earlier. Recall that they arose against the background of a rapidly growing number of coronavirus infections in the world and in the country. In Hong Kong alone, 68 new cases were recorded on Sunday, the highest daily level in three months.
South Korea's KOSPI index immediately increased 1.92%. The indicator has not yet reacted even to the news that the country's government is introducing new strict quarantine measures in Seoul and the entire southwest region.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 0.48%. Investors were waiting for positive news that the border between the two Australian states (Victoria and New South Wales) was working again, that is, more than four months later, the message was reopened. Recall that earlier the borders were closed due to strict compliance with quarantine measures. Air carriers immediately reacted to the incident by increasing the number of flights between Sydney and Melbourne.
European stock exchanges also traded in a positive mood on Monday, which is also provided by the news regarding the forthcoming appearance of a vaccine against coronavirus infection in the public domain. The hopes of market participants are focused on the fact that the vaccine will help to quickly overcome the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have arisen in the economies of all countries of the region and the world as a whole.
The general index of large enterprises in the European region STOXX Europe 600 gained 0.41%, which allowed it to move to the 391.2 point mark.
The UK FTSE 100 Index is up 0.34%. The German index climbed 0.8%. France's CAC 40 Index added 0.65%. The Italian FTSE Index gained 0.91% and became the leader of the growth. Spain's IBEX 35 Index jumped 0.78%.
Meanwhile, the statistics on the level of economic development in the region, which was released to the press this week, leave much to be desired. In particular, the general PMI index for the third month of autumn has already dropped to its lowest levels of six months ago. This did not coincide with preliminary forecasts, which turned out to be much better than real numbers. The purchasing managers' index fell to 45.1 points, while the October indicators consolidated at 50 points.
The decline also took place in the service sector activity. The indicator plummeted to 41.3 points, while earlier it was around 46.9 points. This also became the minimum over the past six months.
The manufacturing PMI index also underwent correction and reached 53.6 points from the previously recorded 54.8 points. Preliminary forecasts were slightly worse than real data with an estimated fall of around 53.1 points.
