SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks struggled to extend the week’s rally on Wednesday, and gold and bonds firmed, as a sceptical press report dented some expect a COVID-19 vaccine and concerns about the international recovery from the pandemic returned.
SUBMIT PICTURE: A passerby wearing a protective face mask, following an outbreak of the coronavirus, walks past an electronic board showing the charts of the current motions of Japan’s Nikkei share typical outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan March 6,2020 REUTERS/Issei Kato
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar retreated from a two-month high struck on Tuesday and safe-haven demand drove U.S. Treasury yields back under 0.7%.
European futures were subdued with FTSE futures and EuroSTOXX 50 futures down 0.3%. S&P 500 futures increased 0.6%.
The drift follows a downbeat end to Tuesday trade on Wall Street after a report from medical news website STAT cast doubt over encouraging early results from a Moderna Inc COVID-19 vaccine trial.
The report said the outcomes, which