SYDNEY/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Asian shares rose for a third session on the trot on Wednesday as investors took heart from easing coronavirus lockdowns in some parts of the world while oil prices jumped on hopes demand will pick up.
FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), walks past a screen showing the Nikkei index outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Risk assets including equities have rallied for most of this month thanks to heavy doses of fiscal and monetary policy stimulus around the globe aimed at softening the economic blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Positive news around potential treatments for the infection as well as progress in developing a vaccine have also boosted sentiment recently.
Moreover, investors have regained some confidence as parts of the United States, Europe and Australia are gradually easing restrictions while New Zealand this week allowed some businesses to open.
These factors helped lift MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS by 0.9% on Wednesday, having rallied 3.3% already this week.
Japan’s markets were closed for a public holiday.
Australian shares rose 1.2% led by energy and resources firms while South Korea .KS11 added 1.2%.
Chinese markets opened in the black with the blue-chip index .CSI300 up 0.6%.
All the same, analysts were circumspect about the rally.
“The recovery in global share prices from the March lows has not been accompanied by an expansion in market breadth,” said Jefferies