September 02, 2020: Stock prices in Europe and in the US were higher Wednesday, as investors welcomed falling coronavirus death rates and improved global economic data, dealers said.

“Global stocks have been rising on the back of the steadily improving sentiment on Wall Street and elsewhere over the past few weeks amid falling COVID-19 death rates, falling new cases in the United States, and hopes that an effective vaccine will soon be approved,” said ThinkMarkets analyst, Fawad Razaqzada.

“Meanwhile, improving manufacturing activity in China, the US and eurozone has fuelled hopes that the recovery is well under way across the world's key economic regions.”

In early New York trading, the Dow Jones index gained 0.5 percent.

Already on Tuesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index had notched up a third straight record, having rocketed a mind-boggling 80 percent from its March trough.

Global titans such as Apple, Samsung and Microsoft are miles ahead of the pack, boosted by solid demand as many consumers around the world stay at home.

In economic data, the US Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose more than expected in August.

London stocks gained more than 1.0 percent while Frankfurt and Paris each shot up by more than 2.0 percent in afternoon trading.

This year's global surge in equities has also been driven by a vast wall of cash and central bank pledges of ultra-low interest rates for some time.

“The apparent disconnect between markets and the real world gets wider and wider, fuelled by low interest rates, the prospect of more easing, but also the hope that the overall situation will continue to improve,” noted IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.

“Markets continue to seek the positive and ignore the negatives, but it is odd to see such relentless positivity in US markets when the pandemic has yet to subside, the economic impact is only just being felt and we have a US presidential election just a few weeks away.”

Meanwhile, traders kept an eye on Washington after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would reach out to the Democrats to push through a new stimulus package for the beleaguered US economy.

– Key figures around 1330 GMT –

• London – FTSE 100: UP 1.3 percent at 5,936.65 points
• Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 2.1 percent at 13,241.48
• Paris – CAC 40: UP 2.1 percent at 5,038.50
• EURO STOXX 50: UP 2.0 percent at 3,341.61
• New York – Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 28,795.38
• Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 23,247.15 (close)
• Hong Kong – Hang Seng: DOWN 0.3 percent at 25,120.09 (close)
• Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,404.80 (close)
• Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1832 from $1.1912 at 2100 GMT on Tuesday
• Dollar/yen: UP at 106.28 yen from 105.96 yen
• Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3311 from $1.3384
• Euro/pound: UP at 88.88 pence from 89.00 pence
• Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.2 percent at $45.67 per barrel
• West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $42.81

AFP/APP

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