Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday as investor optimism around the corona virus vaccine after drug-makers Pfizer and BioNTech said they won permission for emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine in Britain, which would be one of the first countries to begin vaccinating its population against the virus. Further, hopes for further fiscal stimulus in the United States also kept the market sentiment positive. Chinese shares ended lower as investors were remained cautious following Sino-US tensions after the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would increase oversight of Chinese companies on US exchanges. Although data showed the services sector in China continued to expand at a faster rate, pointing to a further recovery of business activity in the wake of the corona virus outbreak. The China Caixin services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 57.8 from October's 56.8.
Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
Shanghai Composite | 3,442.14 | -7.24 | -0.21 |
Hang Seng | 26,728.50 | 195.92 | 0.74 |
Jakarta Composite | 5,822.94 | 8.95 | 0.15 |
KLSE Composite | 1,628.26 | 29.54 | 1.85 |
Nikkei 225 | 26,809.37 | 8.39 | 0.03 |
Straits Times | 2,822.34 | 11.39 | 0.41 |
KOSPI Composite | 2,696.22 | 20.32 | 0.76 |
Taiwan Weighted | 13,977.09 | -12.05 | -0.09 |
