European, Asian shares rise over the prospect of a COVID-19 vaccine

Gulf Today Report

European shares climbed on Wednesday for a third session as confidence surrounds the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine.

The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.5%, building on a 5% rally this week as investors bought into utilities as well as travel-related stocks, a sector that has widely underperformed this year. Technology stocks gained 0.7%. 

Keith Temperton, a trader at Forte Securities said: "the US election, talks of fresh European stimulus, and vaccine developments have definitely helped traders to get more confident, but the market is beginning to settle and see if any new short-term risks come up." 

Among country indexes, German stocks rose 0.2%, while London's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 added 0.3% and 0.3%, respectively.

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Asian Shares

Asian shares rose on Wednesday after the announcement of a COVID-19 vaccine that is more than 90% effective

Benchmarks advanced in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney but fell in Shanghai after new Chinese regulations focused on technology companies prompted selling in that sector. 

The Shanghai Composite index declined 0.3% to 3,349.17. 

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rebounded from early losses, adding 0.3% to 26,375.48. 

Other regional markets also were mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.8% to 25,349.60 and the S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.7% to 6,449.70. 

South Korea's Kospi rose 1.3% to 2,485.03. India's Sensez fell 0.2% and shares in Taiwan were higher. 

E-commerce giant Alibaba's shares fell 8.4% even as the company was in the midst of its annual Singles Day sales festival. Tencent, owner of the popular WeChat social media platform, declined 5.1% and online retailer JD.com sank 7.6%.