Asian markets were set to climb on Wednesday after Wall Street indexes closed at record highs as investors grow increasingly hopeful about a vaccine to combat rising COVID-19 cases and an economic recovery.
"We've had some positive leads, and a combination of optimism around the vaccine, and government and central bank stimulus remains in place," said Michael McCarthy, chief markets strategist at CMC Markets."It's a sweet spot for markets."MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.09per cent. In early trade, Australia's S&P ASX 200 also rose about 0.11per cent.
Pfizer Inc and Germany's BioNTech SE sought emergency approval of their vaccine candidate from the European regulator on Tuesday. Competitor Moderna Inc also applied for emergency approval from the European regulator on Tuesday.