The major stock indices in the Asia-Pacific stock exchanges were mixed Wednesday morning, but it cannot be called too rapid. Investors prefer to slow down their active work for now and wait for the arrival of a new portion of statistical data from the largest companies in the region. Another extremely exciting topic is the results of the two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which will be presented later this evening.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.2%. The indicator of the leading economic indicators of the state, which was able to reach 96.4 points in November last year, from its previous level of 94.3 points, added to the positive here. Rapid growth allowed it to fix a new record, which has not happened for almost a year.
In contrast, China's Shanghai Composite index declined by 0.05%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index did not support the negative trend and went up 0.2%.
According to the latest statistics, the level of profit of enterprises in the industrial sector of China, based on the results of work in 2020, immediately increased by 4.1%. The reason for this was the vigorous activity of companies associated with the need for a quick exit from the crisis that arose amid the coronavirus pandemic. A particularly serious jump in the indicator was recorded in December 2020 by 20.1%.
South Korea's KOSPI index fell 0.3% despite showing positive economic data. The country's consumer confidence in the first month of this year rose from 91.2 points recorded in December 2020, to 95.4 points. This suggests that the indicator was able to gain strength and retreat from its minimum value over the past three months.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was down 0.65%. The indicator of business confidence in the country's economy began to fall quite seriously. In December 2020, it has already moved to a position of 4 points, whereas previously it was 13 points. The negativity is due to new outbreaks of coronavirus infection which continue to torment the region and its economy. The number of infected cases is also increasing in Sydney.
The situation on European stock exchanges is no better. There is no single dynamics among major stock indices, and the one that exists is very restrained. The main pressure here is associated with the worsening epidemiological situation with coronavirus and the problems faced amid mass vaccination.
However, investors are still hoping that the vaccine can improve the situation in the region. Then it will be possible to devote all efforts to restore economic growth in the region. This is confirmed by the revised forecast for the level of global GDP in the coming year, which was presented by the International Monetary Fund. In particular, the main indicator of development was increased to 5.5%, which was previously at 5.2%. The reason for the more positive view of analysts was precisely the mass vaccination, which, however, is proceeding with great difficulties. At the same time, the IMF expresses serious concern about the fact that new strains of coronavirus infection have begun to be actively identified, which may lead to re-infection and reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine that is now used in countries around the world.
To date, the total number of people infected with COVID-19 across the globe has exceeded the 100 million mark, and so far the growth has not slowed down at all.
The general index of large enterprises in the European region STOXX Europe 600 increased by 0.15% and moved to the level of 408.31 points.
The UK FTSE 100 Index jumped 0.1%. France's CAC 40 index was up 0.32%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 0.23%. The German DAX index showed negative dynamics and dropped 0.2%. Italy's FTSE MIB Index sank 0.21%.
