NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (Reuters) – Asian equities jumped on Tuesday, with Japanese equities reaching a 29-year high as hopes for a long-awaited U.S. pandemic relief package are extended and a Brexit trade deal risks investors will support.
The Japanese Nikkei jumped 0.9% to its highest level since March 1991, while Australian equities climbed 0.7% and futures contracts for the S&P 500 added 0.3%.
The U.S. House of Representatives previously voted to increase incentive payments to qualified Americans to $ 2,000 from $ 600, and is sending the measure to the Senate for a vote.
While it is not clear how the measure will fare in the Senate, President Donald Trump on Sunday signed a $ 2.3 billion pandemic bill, which included payments of $ 600, shares on Wall Street on Sunday. sent to peak overnight as it raised optimism about economic growth. repair.
“With Brexit … and the US stimulus agreement now in the rearview mirror, there is a sense of relief that we have avoided the various worst-case scenarios,” said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at Axi, a broker.
The demand for more risky assets has kept the US dollar, often considered a ‘safe haven’, on the back foot. It fell by 0.02% against a basket of major currencies.
The dollar short was recently a popular trade and calculations by Reuters based on data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday indicated that it could persist. Short positions on the dollar increased to $ 26.6 billion in the week ended December 21, the highest in three months.
Sterling softened to $ 1.3462 as investors continued to make gains in the currency following the confirmation last week of a trade deal between the UK and the EU that was widely expected.
A sluggish dollar boosted gold prices, which rose 0.4% to $ 1,788.76 per ounce.
Oil prices took a hit after falling overnight over concerns that new travel restrictions at the back of the COVID-19 pandemic would weaken demand for fuel, and because the prospect of a greater supply would slow prices.
U.S. crude rose 0.48% to $ 47.85 a barrel.
Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Edited by Sam Holmes