World news – African Union – Trade in the Asia-Pacific markets has mixed as optimism about vaccines collided with economic concerns

Singapore â €? Asia-Pacific markets recovered some losses on Thursday to trade mixed as traders grappled with optimism about a potential coronavirus vaccine and economic concerns..

In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 erased its previous losses, ending 0. 25% at 6,547. 20. The Big Four banks closed higher, with Westpac up by 2. 31%. The main miners were mixed, with BHP reduced by 0. 87%.

Jobs in the country rose, beating expectations in October after the state of Victoria eased restrictions on the Coronavirus. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that employment increased by 178,800 people from September while the unemployment rate rose partially from 6. 9% to 7% ???? Victoria’s employment increased by 81,600 people.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0. 36% to 25,634. 34 while Topix rose 0. 33% to 1726. 41. In South Korea, the Kospi index erased previous losses, rising partially to 2547. 42.

Mainland Chinese stocks reversed their earlier losses: the Shanghai Composite rose 0. 47% to 3,363. 09, Shenzhen composite rose 0. 63% to 2,275. 84th and offering Shenzhen component 0. 87% to 13,777. 45. Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index is down 0. 46% in afternoon trade.

The session followed in Asia U. s. Stocks fell for a second straight day, halting the latest rally to new record highs.

Daniel Benn, Head of Foreign Exchange and G3 Research at ANZ, wrote in a morning note: « It was a day of consolidation of financial markets, which fell at the intersection of pollen optimism and near-term economic weakness. ».

Pfizer and BioNTech said on Wednesday that a final analysis of the data found that their coronavirus vaccine was 95% effective at preventing Covid-19 and appeared to prevent severe disease.. Meanwhile, Moderna said data from the preliminary phase three of the trials showed its vaccine was 94% effective..

Still, as cases continued to rise, particularly in the U. . s. , Authorities are moving to return some stay-at-home orders, curfews and public safety measures, including closing non-essential businesses in a few cities.. There is growing concern that if the spread of infection is not contained, widespread lockdowns can be restarted.

Other countries also face grim forecasts: Death tolls rise in Italy and Spain while Japan recorded more than 2,000 new cases on Wednesday..

Dollar Index, which measures the letter U. s. The dollar against a basket of peers, trading up 0. 15% at 92. 457 as of 2:52 AM. M. HK / SIN, is falling from levels near 93. 00 last week.

Yo. s. The dollar « remains driven by conflicting headlines about vaccine advancement and high infection rates (and renewed lockdowns), » Kim Mundy, chief economist and currency strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a morning note.. .

“The danger is that the vaccine is not ready fast enough to offset the near-term economic damage of large-scale lockdowns as a number of countries struggle to get back control of infection rates,” Mundy said..

The Japanese Yen is trading near steady at 103. 86 to the dollar, while the Australian dollar was trading at 0 dollars. 7292, retreating from previous levels around $ 0. 73.

Oil prices fell on Thursday during Asian trading hours: U. s. Crude oil futures fell 0. 77% at $ 41. 5 per barrel, while the world record Brent crude fell 0. 41% to $ 44. 16.

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Lockdown, Vaccine, US Dollar, Asia