Domestic stock markets are likely to start the last trading session of the week on a positive note, tracking gains in Asian peers, where equities touched a seven-week high lifted by encouraging early results from a coronavirus (COVID-19) treatment trial. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures – an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index back home – jumped as much as 202.85 points to touch 9,752.00 ahead of the opening of Indian markets. At 8:00 am, the SGX Nifty futures were up 196.35 points – or 2.06 per cent – at 9,745.50.
Equities elsewhere in Asia jumped, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan rising 0.8 per cent to its highest level recorded since mid-March. Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark index, returning from a holiday the previous day, jumped 2.5 per cent to a seven-week high.
Asian stocks followed strong moves in US markets overnight, where shares rallied after Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, said Gilead’s antiviral remdesivir will become the standard of care for COVID-19 after early results from a trial seemed to show it helped speed recovery. Investors around the globe have been excited by the prospect of a COVID-19 treatment because it may help countries emerge from lockdowns – even though investors’ hopes don’t seem to take into account regulatory and distribution difficulties should a treatment be found.
Moreover, the Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday left interest rates near zero and repeated a vow to do what it takes to shore up the economy, saying the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will “weigh heavily” on the near-term outlook and poses “considerable risks” for the medium term.
The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indices ended 2.66 per cent, 2.21 per cent and 3.57 per cent higher respectively. US futures, however, gave up early gains to turn flat, indicating a lacklustre start on Thursday.
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