HONG KONG – Asian markets mostly rose today but traders trod uneasily as they were caught between long-term optimism over a Covid-19 vaccine and the immediate horror of surging virus infections and deaths across the world.
Trading floors were also battling a similar problem with Washington as the Treasury and Federal Reserve knocked heads over extending lending measures, just as US lawmakers prepared to restart difficult stimulus talks.
Breakthroughs on a drug to fight the pandemic, along with Joe Biden's US Presidential election win, have fired a rally in global equities this month as investors bet that life can begin to get back to a semblance of normality in the new year.
But the wind has been taken out of their sails by a stream of desperate figures showing the disease running wild, setting new records in the United States and Europe while spiking in several other countries.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.4%. Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai and Bangkok were all also up, while Manila surged more than two percent after the Philippines central bank announced a surprise interest rate cut Thursday.
But Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei fell 0.4%, while Sydney, Wellington, Jakarta and Taipei also slipped. – AFP, November 20, 2020
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