* Indexes steady but rotation to beaten-down sectors deepens
* Airline buying moderates; currency markets steady ahead of
ECB
* Kiwi touches 19-month high after RBNZ meeting
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Tom Westbrook and Lawrence Delevingne
SYDNEY/BOSTON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Stock markets gained on
Wednesday, as news of a working COVID-19 vaccine seemed to
inoculate investors against worry about surging infections in
Europe and the United States, while the kiwi rose as traders
thought the central bank sounded upbeat.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.4% and Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1%,
although most of the action was switching between sectors within
markets, as investors shift from coronavirus winners into some
of the hardest hit sectors.
Banks, for example, made modest additions to Tuesday gains,
as did energy and some travel stocks while tech companies fell.
Oil futures sat by two-month highs on anticipation of better
demand in a post-pandemic world. O/R
Currency markets were mostly steady save for the kiwi, which
climbed half a percent to a 19-month high after the Reserve Bank
of New Zealand kept rates on hold, as expected, but sounded less
dovish than forecast about the outlook. Other majors and fixed income markets were mostly flat with
traders unwilling to extend a selloff in the haven assets of
bonds and the yen while a trying northern winter looms. FRX/
S&P 500 futures ESc1 wobbled either side of flat and
Nasdaq 100 futures NQc1 rose 0.4% after another session of
Wall Street selling of hitherto soaring big tech firms. .N
"A rotation theme remains evident in equity markets," said
National Australia Bank strategist Rodrigo Catril in a note.
"Big tech, which has benefited from our virus-driven change
in behaviour, is now falling out of favour while small-cap
stocks and those that have been most affected by social
distancing restrictions have outperformed."
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O was also under pressure overnight
after European authorities filed an antitrust suit against the
online retailing giant. It has suffered its sharpest two-day
drop since March, shedding 8%, though has gained 64% this year.
In Hong Kong on Wednesday the Hang Seng .HSI traded just
below flat as gains in financials were outweighed by losses in
tech names such as Tencent 0700.HK and Alibaba 9988.HK .
.HK
In Tokyo, industrials led the charge as enthusiasm for
buying airlines petered out. .T
In Australia banks .AXFJ made small gains while camping
gear retailers, buy-now-pay-later darling Afterpay APT.AX and
Dominos Pizza DMP.AX extended losses. .AX
INOCULATE, ROTATE
The moves mirror a Wall Street rotation since Pfizer Inc
PFE.N announced on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate,
developed with German partner BioNTech BNTX.O , showed a 90%
success rate in preventing infection during trials. The blue-chip Dow Jones .DJI , buoyed by industrial shares,
is up nearly 4% this week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC
has lost almost that much and the S&P 500 .SPX is up 1%.
That came with a big selloff in U.S. Treasuries and the
Japanese yen, even while COVID-19 deaths have crossed 300,000 in
Europe and keep rising in spite of a second series of social
restrictions as the northern autumn turns to winter.
"The rate of change that we've seen in the U.S. bond market
over the last few days is just not sustainable," said Chris
Weston, head of research at broker Pepperstone, who is looking
for more easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve next month.
"Given the shaky patch that we know we've got to navigate
through, which is going to be a very dark winter in the U.S...I
just can't see a situation where the Fed don't do something to
keep nominal bond yields in check."
Investors are also looking to hear from European Central
Bank president Christine Lagarde about the European economic
outlook and stimulus prospects in a speech at 1300 GMT.
The U.S. bond market is shut for Veterans Day but the yield
on benchmark 10-year Treasuries US10YT=RR posted its highest
close since March on Tuesday at 0.9720%. US/
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were last 30 cents firmer at
$43.90 a barrel, just below a two-month high made overnight.
Gold XAU= was steady at $1,879.36 an ounce. GOL/
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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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