Asia trades higher with investor sentiment supported by positive vaccine news

Asia Pacific markets mostly rose Tuesday after investor sentiment was supported by a slew of positive news on the coronavirus vaccine front.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.61% and the Topix index traded fractionally higher, up 0.06%. South Korea’s Kospi index was up 1.34% while in Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 added 1.49%, with the heavily weighted financials subindex up 1.41%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.56% while the Straits Times index in Singapore gained 0.33% and the Jakarta Composite rose 0.83%.

Chinese mainland shares bucked the positive trend in other parts of the region: The Shanghai composite fell 0.22% while the Shenzhen component index and the Shenzhen composite traded fractionally lower. The session in Asia followed overnight gains on Wall Street due to a strong performance in technology shares. U.S. futures pointed to opening gains on Tuesday.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of its peers, last traded at 95.691, declining from its previous close of 95.832.

Elsewhere, the Japanese yen changed hands at 107.16, weakening from levels near 106.8 seen last week. The Australian dollar traded at $0.7025, climbing from levels near $0.6960 in the previous week.

Oil prices traded higher Tuesday morning during Asian hours. U.S. crude traded up 0.15% at $40.87 a barrel while global benchmark Brent added 0.09% to $43.32.

Asia trades higher with investor sentiment supported by positive vaccine news, CNBC, Jul 21