Australia

Australian shares are set to follow US markets higher on positive vaccine news.

The Australian SPI 200 futures contract was up 177 points, or 2.8 per cent, to 6,481 points at 7am Sydney time on Tuesday, suggesting a positive start to trading.

The S&P 500 and the Dow followed world equity indexes to record levels and US Treasury yields surged on Monday, as promising developments toward a coronavirus vaccine and the prospect of improved trade relations under President-elect Joe Biden gave a jolt to investor risk appetite.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 839.61 points, or 2.96 per cent, to 29,163.01, the S&P 500 gained 44.25 points, or 1.26 per cent, to 3,553.69 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 162.91 points, or 1.37 per cent, to 11,732.32.

Locally, the S&P/ASX200 benchmark index closed higher by 108.6 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 6,299 on Monday. The All Ordinaries closed up 120.7 points, or 1.9 per cent, to 6,516.

Gold was down 4.56 per cent at $US1,869.17 an ounce; Brent oil surged 7.33 per cent per cent to $US42.34 a barrel; Iron ore was up 2.33 per cent at $US120.26 a tonne.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was buying 72.78 US cents at 7.30am, up from 72.66 US cents on Monday’s open.

Asia

Markets across Asia rose on hopes that Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election raised hopes of a thaw in frosty Sino-American trade relations.

China’s blue-chip index hit a more than 5 month high. On Monday, the blue-chip CSI300 index ended up 2.2 per cent at 4,990.84, while the Shanghai Composite Index shed 1.9 per cent per cent to 3,375.05.

Hong Kong stocks ended at a four-month high on Monday, tracking gains in other Asian markets. The Hang Seng index rose 1.2 per cent to 26,016.17, its highest closing level since July 9.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei share average hit a fresh 29 week high and closed 2.12 per cent higher at 24,839.84.

Europe

European shares jumped to an eight-month high on Monday after drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech flagged strong progress in their COVID-19 vaccine, while Joe Biden’s election victory raised hopes of a more stable US trade policy.

The pan-European STOXX 600 jumped nearly 4 per cent and clocked its best day since late March. Travel and leisure stocks, which have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, were among the best performing sectors, adding 7 per cent to hit an eight-month high.

North America

The S&P 500 and the Dow followed world equity indexes to record levels and US Treasury yields surged on Monday, as promising developments toward a coronavirus vaccine and the prospect of improved trade relations under President-elect Joe Biden gave a jolt to investor risk appetite.

Value stocks boosted all three major US stock indexes to all-time highs and crude prices jumped more than 10 per cent.

The indexes subsequently paired their gains, and the Nasdaq was last flat.

Pfizer Inc said its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech SE, was more than 90 per cent effective in preventing infection, marking the first successful results from a large-scale clinical trial.