Asian markets were mostly higher Thursday, a day after Britain became the first Western nation to grant emergency approval of a COVID-19 vaccine and apparent progress among lawmakers in Washington toward a compromise financial rescue package.
The Nikkei index in Tokyo gained eight points, but was unchanged in percentage terms (+0.03). Sydney’s S&P/ASX index finished up 0.2%, and Seoul’s KOSPI index earned 0.6%.
The Composite index in Shanghai dropped 0.2%, while Taiwan’s TSEC index lost 12 points, but was unchanged in percentage terms (-0.09%). In late afternoon trading, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong is up 0.5%, and the Sensex in Mumbai is up 0.1%.
In commodities trading, gold is selling at $1,843.40 per ounce, up 0.7%. U.S. crude oil is unchanged in percentage terms (+0.09), selling at $45.32 per barrel, while Brent crude is selling at $48.36 per barrel, up 0.2%.
In futures trading, both the Dow and the S&P 500 are trending slightly negative, while the Nasdaq is trending higher.
