Asian shares surge as China blue chip stocks hit 5-year peak

Asian shares scaled four-month peaks on Monday as investors counted on super-cheap liquidity and fiscal stimulus to sustain the global economic recovery, even as surging coronavirus cases delayed re-openings across the United States.

Asian Shares

  • MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 1% to its highest since February.
  • Eyes were on Chinese blue chips, which jumped 3%, on top of a 7% gain last week, to their loftiest level in five years.
  • Even Japan’s Nikkei, which has lagged with a soft domestic economy, managed a rise of 1.3%.
  • E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 also firmed 0.8%.
  • EUROSTOXX 50 futures added 1.8% and FTSE futures 1.5%.

Currency Markets

  • The dollar was a shade firmer on the yen at 107.71 on Monday.
  • The euro edged up to $1.1281.

Oil Prices

  • Oil prices were mixed in early trade with Brent crude futures up 19 cents at $42.99 a barrel, while U.S. crude eased 23 cents to $40.42 amid worries the surge in U.S. coronavirus cases would curb fuel demand.

Gold Prices

  • Spot gold traded at $1,772 per ounce just off last week’s peak of $1,788.96.

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