Asian shares slip while European stocks advance

Gulf Today Report

Asian shares declined on Wednesday as virus cases surge and China-US tensions affect sentiment. 

Shares also fell in Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.3%, shares rose in India but fell in Taiwan. 

Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3% to 27,090.44 and the Kospi in South Korea bounced back from early losses, adding 0.4% to 3,000.93. 

The Hang Seng gave up 48 points to 27,565.60. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.1% to 6,607.10. 

The Shanghai Composite index was flat at 3,528.56. 

Investors remain optimistic that the US economy is likely to recover due to coronavirus vaccination programme going on in different parts of the world. 

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European Stock

European stocks rose on Wednesday as investors are hopeful for Democratic win in Georgia runoff.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2%, while UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.7% and Germany's DAX gained 0.2%.

Oil majors BP jumped between 1.6% and 3.3%, Banking sector gained 2.6%. 

Georgia runoff votes are yet to be counted but markets prices are in a ‘blue wave’ that is likely to welcome in larger fiscal stimulus and pave way for greater corporate regulation and higher taxes. 

"Europe will take its cue from the US markets and what's interesting at the moment is that the Dow could open down, which is perhaps surprising given the perception of those results," said Connor Campbell, an analyst at SpreadEx.

Extended lockdowns put in place by various countries to curb coronavirus has capped European gains.