Global markets at record highs in the middle of stimulus and recovery hope – business live

The UK stock market has opened higher with FTSE 100 wins 40 points or 0.6% to 6796 points.

This is the highest level since January 15, as Footsie returns to 11-month highs seen earlier this month:

Bank giant HSBC is the largest increase, with 3.2%, where mining companies and oil producers also come together.

UBS Wealth Management predicts that Asia’s stock markets will remain strong this year (the year of the bull).

They claim that the macro momentum of the region is strong and that we are only at the beginning of the post-pandemic recovery.

Asian equities have already risen 12% so far this year, exceeding global equities by 6.5 percentage points, while the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index has risen 92% since the decline in March 2020.

Mark Haefele, Investment Manager at UBS Global Wealth Management, see additional benefits:

“While the rally in Asia may be measured more from here, we still see a further 10% upward for Asia’s ex-Japan shares at the end of the year. We prefer affordable cyclical names, especially in the Internet, memory and media sectors.

We see catch-up opportunities in selected industries, economics, materials and energy. ”

The Asia-Pacific markets have had another strong day.

Japanese Nikkei has reached a new 30-year high today and jumped 1.28% or 383 points to close at 30,467 points.

In Hong Kong it is Hang Seng rose 1.8% as trading resumed after the lunar New Year break.

Jeffrey Halley from OANDA says:

Although they do not show the same momentum as yesterday, a combination of dovish central banks and the still current US stimulus and vaccine hopes have kept stock markets afloat as usual.

Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, financial markets, the euro area and business.

The global stock markets continue to strengthen with stock prices at record levels.

Investors are showing growing confidence that Covid-19 vaccines will calm the pandemic and that President Joe Biden will run through a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package.

The MSCI All Country World Index has been rising steadily since early February, and is set to expand its run today as Wall Street reopens after a long weekend.

Jim Reid of German bank explains that investors show appetite for risk:

The global reflection theme continued yesterday, and risk premiums continued to show strength across several asset classes. In fact, the MSCI World Index, which includes a number of developed world stocks, rose to an 11th session in a row, which marks the longest winning streak for the index since January 2018.

If it manages to hack a 12th win today, it will be the longest winning run since December 2003, back when Arsenal were on their way to winning the Premier League unbeaten and before most British households had internet access.

That FTSE 100 rose 2.5% or 166 points to a one-month high yesterday and is on track for further gains today – with IG calling the index up another 20 points.

Britain’s rapid deployment of Covid-19 vaccines has given hope of easing the lockdown – though Prime Minister Boris Johnson sounded cautious last night, insisting that infection rates be really low.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets, says investors are hopeful that this current lockdown will be the last.

Over 15 million people have received coronavirus vaccine in the UK and this gives the government confidence that they can not only achieve their other goals but also increase their vaccination process.

In addition to this, if you look at the number of people losing their lives due to coronavirus along with the hospitalization rate and new people catching coronavirus, they have all started to drop quite a bit from their recent height.

But … this rally further expands the link between the stock market and the real economy – and sees through the damage caused by the pandemic.

On a price-to-earnings basis, equities have rarely looked more expensive.

The agenda

• 10:00 GMT: Second estimate of euro area GDP in Q4 2020
• 10:00 GMT: ZEW Index of German Economic Mood
• 13.30 GMT: Empire State Survey of New York State Production