Global shares flatlined on Friday as rising U.S. and European COVID19 hospitalisations tempered the euphoria over a promising vaccine, though Wall Street looked set for a firmer open on news presidentelect Joe Biden was set to cement his election win.
U.S. futures rose 0.5 by 0.830 GMT after Edison Research projected Biden to capture the battleground state of Arizona, further weakening President Donald Trumps efforts to overturn the results of the Nov. 3 election.
However, the panEuropean Stoxx 50 was down 0.2, just above its opening levels. MSCIs allcountry equity index slipped 0.1
You had the news overnight in the U.S. on COVID, which is not that good and that … provides an opportunity for investors to book some profit postPfizer and postU.S. elections, said Francois Savary, chief investment officer at Swiss wealth manager Prime Partners.
Thursday saw Wall Street end lower on news of rising coronavirus infections and as investors weighed up the schedule for rolling out effective vaccine. Several U.S. states have introduced stricter social distancing rules following reports of record hospitalisations
In Europe, too, the number of hospitalisations are now higher than at the peak of the first wave and officials said measures to control infections must continue.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday that progress in developing a coronavirus vaccine was welcome news but nearterm economic risks remain, underscoring the likely need for additional…
