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“Hopes of an unambiguous ‘Santa Claus rally’ have been tragically sidetracked,” Mizuho Bank said in a report.
Meanwhile, investors’ nerves have been rattled by the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus in Britain that spreads more easily. This prompted some 40 governments to ban travelers from Britain.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.8% to 3,382.08 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.1% to 26,470.94. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.2% to 26,180.10.
Seoul’s Kospi climbed 0.6% to 2,751.30 and Australia’s S & P-ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 6,630.30. New Zealand advanced while Singapore and Indonesia retreated.
Investors are hoping that a new congressional aid package can support the economy until the coronavirus vaccine rollout gets businesses and consumers back on track.
Congress, after months of wrangling, on Monday night approved a plan that would send most Americans $ 600, give unemployed $ 300 a week, and provide other aid to businesses.
Trump, however, complained on Twitter that the measure was not doing enough for ordinary Americans. He urged lawmakers to increase payments up to $ 4,000 per couple and “get rid of the unnecessary and unnecessary parts of this law and send me an appropriate invoice.”
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell to 3,687.26. About 65% of the companies in the index fell. Communications services, financial companies and others accounted for a large portion of sales. Technology companies have grown.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.7% to 30,015.51. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.5% to a record 12,807.92.
Even without the variant form of the virus, the resurgence of the pandemic is already dragging the US economy.
Two reports on Tuesday added to the disheartening economic data.
One of them showed that consumer confidence fell more than expected this month. Another showed that the hot housing market is slowing.
In energy markets, benchmark US crude fell 67 cents to $ 46.35 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 72 cents on Tuesday to $ 47.02. Brent, the pricing base for international oils, fell 68 cents to $ 49.48 a barrel in London. It shed 83 cents the previous session at $ 50.08 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 103.48 yen from 103.67 on Tuesday. The euro gained $ 1.2186 against $ 1.2161.
