People stand in front of an electronic board showing a China stocks advertisement outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan. Picture: REUTERS/TORU HANAI
Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.7% and South Korea 1.2%. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.5% even as some US states reported record new cases of Covid-19, a divergence that shows no sign of stopping.“Ongoing grim US Covid-19 infection news continues to be summarily ignored in favour of ongoing optimism regarding the timeline for the discovery and rapid rollout of an effective vaccine and/or more policy support for asset prices and the US economy,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at NAB.
While bank shares rose sharply on Friday they have been badly lagging technology stocks, with analysts at Bank of America noting tech outperformance in the past six months was greatest since the 1999 tech bubble and the 2008 global financial crisis.