London/Tokyo — Global stocks ground higher while oil ebbed on Thursday as markets haggled over whether to bet on economic recovery in the US and other developed markets or worry about a surge in Covid-19 cases in countries including India.
Europe’s top indexes also all opened higher ahead of the latest meeting of the European Central Bank , with the broad Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.5%, bolstered by upbeat earnings from Nestle and Volvo. The buoyant start to the day followed overnight gains in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.4% and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3%.Despite stocks being generally upbeat, oil — another asset geared to perceptions of economic growth — fell after a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in India and Japan, and a recent surprise stock build in the US, weighed on sentiment.
“What is hurting market sentiment is also the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic is spreading again at a fast pace in India and Japan despite the fact there had been hopes that the spread of vaccination would improve the infection situation,” he said.