By Asian shares rallied on Tuesday, setting the stage for world equities to extend their bull run for a 12th consecutive session, as investors banked on a rollout of coronavirus vaccines to keep the global economic recovery on track.
Oil prices jumped to a 13month high as a deep freeze due to a severe snow storm in the United States not only boosted power demand but also threatened oil production in Texas.
Asias surging shares set the way for renewed optimism on global markets.
SP500 futures were up 0.5 and MSCIs all country world index ACWI, which has risen every day so far this month, ticked up slightly.
MSCIs broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan shot up 0.62, while Japans Nikkei rose 1.4 to a 30year high.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 1.4 to hit a 32month high, while Australias SPASX200 gained 0.7 for the session. Mainland Chinese markets will remain closed for the holidays until Thursday.
The positive sentiment was also extended to Bitcoin which flirted with breaking through the 50,000 barrier.
Bitcoin was trading at 49,323.56 in the Asian afternoon trading session, slightly below its record high of 49,715 hit on Sunday.
JPMorgan Private Bank head of Asia investment strategy Alex Wolf said the ongoing coronavirus vaccine rollout was giving investors confidence that global growth would be protected in 2021.
This is a positive factor that we are coming into the process of economic normalisation, Wolf said.
Ord Minnett advisor John Milroy…
