GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares set to follow Wall Street rally on vaccine hopes

* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Chris Prentice
WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - Asian shares were set to rise
on Tuesday after data from an early-stage trial for a
coronavirus vaccine lifted hopes for a near-term economic
recovery, sending global equity markets and oil prices surging.
Hong Kong futures HSIc1 were up 1.8% and Australian shares
were also set to open higher. Nikkei futures NKc1 were trading
above the Nikkei 225 index's .N225 previous close, pointing to
an opening gain of about 2%. Data from Moderna Inc's MRNA.O COVID-19 vaccine, the first
to be tested in the United States, showed that it produced
protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers,
the company said on Monday. Shares of the pharmaceutical company
surged. There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for
COVID-19, and experts predict a safe and effective vaccine could
take 12 to 18 months to develop.
On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX posted its
biggest one-day percentage gain in almost six weeks, gaining
3.15%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 3.85% and
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 2.44%.
The vaccine optimism sent treasury yields surging and pulled
gold XAU= off its highest peak since October 2012. Spot prices
were up 0.07%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX closed up 4.1%,
its biggest one-day percentage gain since March 24. France and
Germany on Monday called for the creation of a 500 billion euro
($543 billion) Recovery Fund able to offer grants to the
countries and regions hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis.
Epicenters of the outbreak including New York, Italy and
Spain are gradually lifting restrictions that have kept millions
cooped up, while warmer weather has enticed people in many parts
of the world to emerge from their lockdowns. "Business survey data for the U.S. improved to merely
terrible in May, up from truly awful in April. But collectively
these data support our forecast that monthly activity measures
from May onward should, in general, start to look better as
restrictions are gradually eased," JP Morgan Chase economists
said in a note on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 8.16% of U.S. mortgages are in forbearance, a
weekly industry survey showed. That figure was up from 7.91%
previously, the smallest increase since mid-March. Oil prices LCOc1 jumped to their highest in over two
months, as the easing of global lockdowns boosted hopes of
economic activity and as producers appeared to be following
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Tracking the spread of the novel coronavirus https://graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html
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