WASHINGTON - Asian stocks struggled to extend the week's rally on Wednesday and gold and bonds firmed as a sceptical press report dented some hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine and concerns about bumps in the global recovery from the pandemic returned.
Chinese stocks began the day a little lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.1 per cent. Australia's benchmark was flat while a soft yen helped the Nikkei 0.7 per cent higher."This is probably more a stabilisation than anything else, because markets have rallied hard on opening up and the potential for a V-shaped recovery," said Jun Bei Liu, a portfolio manager at Australia's Tribeca Investment Partners.
S&P 500 futures were last up 0.5 per cent after wobbling around flat through the morning. Oil was steady and benchmark 10-year yields on US Treasuries dipped 1.5 basis points to 0.6964 per cent. Yields fall when prices rise.WOBBLY RECOVERY Doubts about the outlook held back commodity prices from further gains, as more bad news poured forth.
Brent crude futures steadied at US$34.73 per barrel, having rallied nearly 7 per cent this week, and US crude held at US$31.97 a barrel.
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