Asia-Pacific Stock Exchanges (APX) mostly traded in a positive zone Wednesday morning. The major stock indexes are growing, except for the Japanese index, which traded in the red zone.
Market participants are under serious pressure upon the news of a rapid increase in the number of new cases of coronavirus infection. Moreover, in some countries and regions, the situation has already escalated to the limit, which requires immediate measures and strict quarantine. Even the hopes for successful clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine are no longer adequately supported since its launch for mass use will not happen soon.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index is down 1.2%. The level of exports in the country in the second month of autumn was lower, but the rate of decline itself showed a significant slowdown, which may be a good sign and a sign of demand growth from all regions of the world (with the exception of Europe), where restrictive quarantine measures have seriously affected all sectors of the economy. Total exports in October fell by only 0.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. Thus, the current level of exports is £6.57 trillion, which corresponds to $63.2 billion. According to the initial estimates, there should have been a reduction of about 4.5%, which did not happen, and this is a good sign.
The level of imports in the country for the second month of autumn sank significantly by 13.3%. This sent the index to a mark of £5.69 trillion. Of course, experts expected a serious reduction, but it should not exceed 9%. It is important to note that imports have been declining for the eighteenth month in a row, which indicates a steady trend.
China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index supported the positive trend and gained 0.2%.
South Korea's KOSPI index climbed 0.3%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.5%. Moreover, the growth of the indicator is marked for the third trading session in a row, which sets market participants to positive. To date, the Australian index has already reached its highest levels in the past nine months.
European stock exchanges showed a rather weak movement, which is multidirectional. The reasons are still the same: concerns about the growing cases of COVID-19 infection in the region, quarantine measures are expanding and are not yet having the desired effect, and the region's economy is gravely suffering due to lockdown.
Earlier, market participants were encouraged by the news about the successful trial of a vaccine against COVID-19, which is being developed by two companies – German BioNTech and American Pfizer. Its effectiveness is estimated at 90%. Then another pharmaceutical company, Moderna, reported success in testing its vaccine, which exhibited a greater effectivity rate of 94.5%. However, the hype around the drugs quickly faded, since they will not appear on the market in the near future, and the threat to the economy will remain extremely serious.
However, the head of the ECB was quick to make a statement that the potential release of the vaccine on the market will dramatically affect the regulator's plans for a further program of incentive measures. However, Christine Lagarde did not specify what these changes are.
The general index of large enterprises of the European region STOXX Europe 600 slightly higher rose 0.3%, which sent it to the level of 388.95 points.
The UK FTSE 100 Index declined 0.35%. On the other hand, the German DAX index rose by 0.04%. The French CAC 40 index similarly went up by 0.04%. Italy's FTSE Index rose 0.82%. And Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.18%.
