By Lawrence Delevingne
BOSTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Global stocks and oil jumped and
Treasuries sold off on Monday as progress in the development of
a coronavirus vaccine lifted investor confidence in a world
economic recovery.
"Preliminary trials have caused markets to come alive, not
that they needed much encouragement," Chris Weston,
Pepperstone's Melbourne-based head of research, wrote in a note
Monday.
Pfizer Inc PFE.N said its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with
German partner BioNTech SE BNTX.O , was more than 90% effective
in preventing infection, marking the first successful results
from a large-scale clinical trial. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
2.95%, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.17% while the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC dropped 1.53%. E-mini futures for the S&P 500
EScv1 rose 0.47%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 .N225 rose 1.5% to a 29-year high in
early trade and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO rose 1.4%. Hong
Kong's Hang Seng index futures .HSI HSIc1 rose 1.85%. MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS closed 0.12% higher.
Pfizer's announcement jolted European shares to an
eight-month high, building on expectations of more stable trade
policies following the U.S. election. While stocks have also rallied on the assumption that
Democrat Joe Biden would be the next U.S. President, the top
Republican in U.S. Congress on Monday did not acknowledge Biden
as president-elect, raising concerns about a rough transition of
power.
Senator Mitch McConnell said in a speech that President
Donald Trump was well within his rights to look into charges of
election "irregularities" but did not offer any evidence of
fraud. The dollar index .DXY rose 0.65%, but Joseph Capurso, a
strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney,
expects the move to be short-lived.
"As a counter cyclical currency, the USD falls against most
currencies as the global economy improves, with the exception of
the JPY," Capurso wrote. He noted modeling suggested the dollar
was "significantly undervalued" against the yen.
The Australian dollar fell 0.07% versus the greenback at
$0.728.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.25% versus the greenback to
105.09 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at
$1.3171, up 0.06% on the day.
The vaccine news also sent long-dated U.S. Treasury yields
sky-rocketing in their biggest one-day jump since March. The
yield curve, an indication of risk appetite, hit its steepest
level since March. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 31/32 in price
to yield 0.9235%, from 0.82% late on Friday.
The CBOE Market Volatility index .VIX , a barometer of
investor anxiety, hit its lowest closing level since late
August.
Oil prices surged, posting their biggest daily percentage
gain in more than five months as the vaccine news and an OPEC
output deal fueled optimism about rebounding demand.
Gold prices slumped as investors pivoted away from the
safe-haven metal in favor of riskier assets. Spot gold XAU= added 0.4% to $1,868.68 an ounce.
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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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