London/Hong Kong — Stocks, oil and risk currencies, including bitcoin, gained on Tuesday as the formal go-ahead for US president-elect Joe Biden to begin his transition burnished a November already boosted by Covid-19 vaccines.
President Donald Trump tweeted that he had told his team “do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols”, an indication he was moving towards a transition. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.7% in early European trading hours, putting the 49-country MSCI world stocks index on course to set a new record high later.
Some analysts say a Biden presidency, which could mean more negotiation room for Washington and Beijing, would not make a big difference for China’s equities market, as they expect little change in broad US policy towards China. The euro was gaining towards $1.19 again and the dollar index, which tracks the currency against a basket of six major rivals, nudged down to 92.242.
“Progress on developing and distributing a vaccine de-risks the path back to normal for oil markets,” said Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at financial services firm Axi.