NEW YORK, Dec. 30 (Reuters) – Asian equities are set to end a tumultuous 2020 by moving near record highs on Thursday as riskier currencies move near 2-1 / 2-year highs, driven by hopes of rolling out COVID-19 vaccines will help the world beat the pandemic.
The optimistic sentiment, reflected in overnight gains on Wall Street, has dropped the ‘safe haven’ dollar and pushed currencies such as the euro, the sterling, the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar overnight to highs that did not has not been seen more than 2-1. 2 years.
E-Mini S&P futures rose 0.11% to 3,728.5, while MSCI’s share in Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, changed to 661.76 min, a breath of its record high of 661.80.
For the year, the MSCI index rose by almost 20%, exceeding a 15.5% rise in the US S&P 500.
Australian shares lost 0.23% while the Japanese stock market closed on Thursday.
Investors look forward to a brighter 2021 will watch China’s official Production Purchasing Manager’s index for December, which takes place on Thursday at 01:00 GMT.
Analysts expect the index to grow at a steady pace in China’s manufacturing sector in December, as the world’s second largest economy gradually declines as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
However, some analysts have warned that the prosperous gains in the world stock market this year could mean much less room for further appreciation in 2021.
“We would say 80% of all the good news expected in 2021 has already been incorporated,” DataTrek Research analysts said in a comment, adding that some “real surprises” will be needed next year for the U.S. to give stock market another boost. 10%.
For now, however, investors are keeping a healthy risk appetite off the US dollar.
The struggling dollar fell 0.46% to 89.59 against a basket of currencies, which was a low not seen since April 2018.
A listless dollar helped the euro to stand at a 32-month high of $ 1.2298. Sterling was also steady at $ 1.3611, a level last seen in May 2018. The Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar also held on to their respective 32-month highs of $ 0.7665 and $ 0.7215.
A hefty dollar also supported gold, with the price of gold mass hovering at $ 1,894,225 per ounce.
The oil prices helped the trend, but the withdrawal of a shadow, as the annual weakening of the supply led some traders to lead any economic recovery forward rather than rapid.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.02% to trade at $ 48.39, well below about $ 62 at the beginning of 2020.
The treasury has changed little, with U.S. yields at ten years at 0.9264% and yields at two years at 0.1250%.
Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Edited by Richard Chang