Asian markets were mixed Wednesday as optimism over a potential coronavirus vaccine earlier this week steadily begins to fade.
The Nikkei index in Tokyo gained nearly 162 points to finish 0.7% higher, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX, the KOSPI in Seoul and Taiwan’s TSEC index had all earned 0.4% by late afternoon. Hong Kong and Shanghai were trading slightly lower.
European markets also got off to a slow start Wednesday, with London’s FTSE and the DAX in Frankfurt down 0.4%, while the CAC-40 in Paris was in worse shape, trading 0.9% lower.
Global markets soared earlier this week after U.S.-based biotechnology company Moderna said initial tests for a possible coronavirus vaccine produced favorable results from a small sample of people.
But the initial enthusiasm was tampered Tuesday when a report in the medical news site Stat said there was not enough data to assess the vaccine’s potential effectiveness. The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all finished with losses at the end of Wednesday’s trading session on the news.
But all three indexes are on solid ground in futures trading Wednesday.
In oil trading, the price of U.S. crude oil was $32.36 per barrel, down 0.4%, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, was $34.82 per barrel, up 0.4%.