- Asian equities ignore a brief coup of the Capitol Hill as Democrats are up for winning the Senate.
- UK suffers from covid, Japanese PM eyed for emergency announcement.
- Aussie trade numbers and Sino-American tussles are extra catalysts that gained less audience.
Asian share traders cheer the US Democratic Party’s nearness to rein the Senate despite a drama in Washington and the coronavirus (COVID-19) woes during early Thursday. While portraying the mood, MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares refreshes all-time high whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 is up 1.80% by press time amid hopes of further stimulus from the US.
A brief attack on the Capitol building, allegedly by US President Donald Trump’s supporters, derailed risks during the late Wednesday before the news of Jon Ossoff’s victory in the Georgian Senate elections renewed risk-on moves. The optimism gains extra support from the US policymakers who are angry due to the latest attack and have recently eased barriers for the US Electoral College voting, which in turn is likely to help declare the Democratic Party as a majority in both the US houses.
South Korea’s KOSPI becomes the biggest winner with over 2.0% whereas Australia’s ASX 200 ignored November’s mixed trade data to becomes the second biggest regional winner as the investors expect more inflow of funds from America. It should be noted that Japan’s Nikkei 225 fails to respect the upcoming speech from PM Yoshihide Suga that is widely anticipated to announce emergency measures to tame the covid. On the same line, the UK is also suffering from the record high virus numbers despite announcing the third lockdown earlier in the week.
Elsewhere, the US-China tussles become another mostly shrugged off catalyst as global market players are busy observing how the American Congress tackles the power-shift in the system. As a result, stocks in China, Indonesia and India follow the general optimism while those from Hong Kong buck the trend on multiple detentions of activists.
Other than the Asia-Pacific shares, S&P 500 Futures also cheer the odds of US stimulus, backed by Democratic victory, while the US 10-year Treasury yields jump to early 2020 tops.
Moving on, the global markets will be entertained by the news headlines from the US Capitol Hill as Congress members are back to the building for the Electoral College voting, ahead of the certification of the Democratic Party’s anticipated victory. While any disappointment is less likely, nail-biting moves by the Republicans and further drama can’t be overruled.
Other than the US updates, virus news and updates concerning further protective measures against the COVID-19 will also be the key.